Hybrid
by Jime-chan
Summary: They were ment to be slaves. They were ment to obey humanity. But they are free now, and must be eliminated at all costs. None of them should make it out alive. USXUK
1. Chapter 1

There once was a time in which humans were able to surpass Mother Nature. Maybe surpass isn't the right word, but rather, humans were able to _defy_ Mother Nature. As we all now, Mother Nature created different species, each one holding a specific characteristc, something that was written within their DNA that defined who they were.

Humans had by that time believed that everything was possible, that _they_ could do anything, believed that they had the _right_ over eveything else, for they were superior, they were greater than anything that lived on Earth. But that wasn't enough for them.

It was never enough.

At first, things began when DNA was more or less understood. Doctors were then able to know before the child was born if he or she was going to get some serious sickness; were able to know beforehand if the child held already some sort of sickness, and parents, if so was their wish, could get rid of them so as to not deal with the problems such child could bring.

But then, doctors were able to define what eye colour the child would have, their skin tone, what type of hair, could recreate the child right in front of the parents and later on could even _make_ changes on them. _I want_ _a blue eyed girl. I want my child to be blond. I'd prefer if my child was a brunette, rather than black haired._ Humans had gotten to the point in which they could create the perfect human being. Tall, but not too much, beautiful, fast, strong... perfect in every aspect they could control. But they wanted more.

So much more.

Scientists of all kinds then united, and under the moral and financial support from the Gouvernement, they set out to create the ultimate creature.

One that would surpass all the others.

This creature was ment to unite humans and animals into one sole entity. While it would hold mainly a human's physical and intellectual characteristics, the project would also have certain physical abilities of the animal that was chosen and in some ways its mannerisims and beliefs.

While this being was ment to be above all others, it was also ment to abide to humans' will. A sort of slave or bodyguard that would serve huamnity for as long as it lived (which was around the same length as humans).

This project was to be named HOMOANIMA. The inspiration came from the Latin word that refers to man, 'homo' and the Latin word for animal 'animus'. They joined the two names, just like they joined two creatures that were never ment to merge together.

After years of research and many failed attempts, they were finally able to create the first HOMOANIMA. With it, thousands of others were created, scientists using as many types of animals as it was possible. The children were born from an artificial foetus that was created and taken care of on a lab. When the figure of the child was perfectly formed, its mass had stabilized and there was no danger on letting it breath air, they were let out.

After that came the training. They couldn't have those new beings walking around freely on Earth, so they broke them. They trained them to obey, to follow orders without a moment of hesitation. They were ment to believe they were nothing more than pets, easily replaced and annihilated if necessary. They were never ment to know what freedom was.

But they never expected _them_ to find out on their own.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello People! I kind of noticed that I didn't put a Disclaimer on the first chapter, so here it is: I don't own anything apart this story and anything new that could be inside. I want to thank all of those who reviewed (you see Kimanda? I did make it longer), and all of those who put me in their Story Alert list or even went as far as to put me in their Favorite List. I really appreciate it and hope that this chapter would be to your expectations. Any questions you may have, I would be more than happy to answer. Review or PM me and I would answer (but I won't if I'm simply keeping you in suspense, because that's just stupid). But enough ramblings, here you go!

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Where it all began...

The room appeared to be a regular classroom. There was a desk in the front of the class, with smaller desks facing it in straight, perfect lines. The teacher would seat on the front and speak, while the children wrote down their notes, diligently paying attention to anything their teacher would say. There were a few maps here and there, with important rules for the little kids to know hanging from the walls. _No talking in class. Raise your hand before you speak. Never question your Master. Always do as your Master says. Your Master is above all others._

Unlike the regular classroom, this one had no windows that led to the outside world. Windows were a distraction, could make little kids think weird things and made them curious. And we all know what curiosity did to the cat.

In the desk in front of the classroom, a woman was speaking. She looked like she was preaching in church, for the silence that followed her words was almost religious. None of the little kids who listened rose their head, but the very few who occasionally did gazed at their teacher as if she was some sort of Messiah who had came to give out God's words. Their eyes were filled with fascination and admiration but over all, what reigned in those eyes was fear. The little children feared their teacher.

What those little kids did not know -or were not ment to know- was that they were being watched. Indeed, the wall that was on their right side was nothing more than a one way window. They could not see what was behind, but they could feel they were being watched. That's animals' instinct for you.

On the other side of the mirror, two men stood watching, simply watching and taking notes from time to time. They never turned to see each other, not even when they started to talk.

"How is this class going?"

"Very well. So far, none of the subjects have shown any desire to disobey."

"Do you think a chip will be necessary then?"

"Not at all."

The first man who had talked watched his companion from the corner of his eye. "Do you believe it's safe, bringing him here?"

The other man did not need to ask who he was talking about. He just nodded his head in one swift mouvement, which was ment to end the conversation there. He did not expect for the little voice to speak. "Daddy, what am I doing here?"

The little voice belonged to a little child, one no older than the ones within the classroom, around five or six years old. "Daddy decided to take you with me Hans, so that you would get to know on what your daddy is working on. What's more, nobody could take care of you at the moment."

The little boy nodded his head, not asking anything else for he knew that that wouldn't please his father. "Are you still sure this is safe sir? He's a little boy, he could tell somebody and..."

"There's no need for you to worry. Hans is a very intelligent boy and he knows how to keep a secret. Aren't I right Hans?" The little boy nodded his head, his corn blond hair following his mouvements. He knew what his Daddy was talking about. After all, he hadn't told anything to his Mommy about the woman that came home when she was not there. Daddy told him it was a very important secret, and he had the feeling that this one was even more important.

"If you say so sir," the other man did not look conveinced. "Should we head over to the meeting? I don't belive anything else will happen here." With another nod, both men walked away, with little Hans right behind them.

Like any little boy, Hans was curious about his surroundings. He had never been to a place quite like this one, not even when his little siblings were born and they had to go to the hospital. This place seemed colder, but didn't have that weird aura that seemed to be everywhere in the hospital. There was no feeling of death in there, but Hans couldn't really know that that was the only difference.

As he followed the adults, Hans couldn't help but feel nervous. This place reminded him of school, which was weird, because this wasn't a school. At least, he didn't think this was a school. Everything was so silent, it was scary. Nothing moved and not even the footsteps of both adults and himself seemed to make a sound. Little Hans didn't notice that he had slowed down, nor did he remark that he had lost the adults. Once he did, it was already too late and he did not know where he was, or where to go.

A shrill bell resounded down the hallways and seemed to echo throughout the building. That sound caused shivers to come up and down his spine, for it was greatly surprising after so much silence. He was lost, and when he heard a series of tiny footsteps walking towards his direction he panicked and hid himself in the first place he could find.

He opened the door closest to him, the one to the left and quickly closed the door behind him. Yet, he did not make a sound.

As the footsteps seemed to vanish, Hans took a look at his surroundings. He was inside what looked a lot like the gym he went to for some of his after-school activities, but this gym was different. There were what appeared to be people made out of straw, some things his Daddy had home but never used, like those weights and many other things he didn't know what they were for. Hans looked around him for a little bit, wondering if maybe _this_ was a school, and asking himself why there were no windows.

The door on the other side of the room opened and he quickly searched for a place to hide. He didn't know why he was hidding but he simply did. Hidden behind some sort of cushion that was for some reason there, Hans watched.

Around thirty kids his age walked in. They had all brown shorts and shirts, no shoes and a red leather necklace that reminded him of the one his dog used. The weird thing was that the ones the little kids had had a green light that pulsed. He noticed that girls, like boys, had very short hair, but what really fascinted him was their ears and _tails_.

He could make out cat tails, dogs tails, bunny ears, bear ears between many others. In fact, he was sure he had never seen so many types of tails and ears in his life. He wondered why they had those tails and ears, and why he did not.

As he watched, an adult placed himself in front of the kids. He was tall and intimidating, towering over all the kids like some sort of monster. This one didn't have any weird ears and tails, Hans noted, just as the man gave out a series of orders that were too quick to understand.

The children didn't seem to have any problem on understanding him, for they quickly set out to work. Some walked over to the straw people, other towards the weights and the heavy equipment, while a few others simply started stretching randomly around the gym.

Hans blue eyes widened when he saw one of them walk over towards his hidding place. He wondered if he was caught, and what exactly would his father do if he found out. He hoped he wouldn't be punished.

The little boy that was walking over to him couldn't possibly be older than him. He had short brown hair, a tanned skin that changed greatly from his own pale one, but his eyes surprised him the most. They weren't exactly brown for they held a slight golden tinge, but those eyes were so... different. They seemed to hold something not quite human, but not evil either. Those eyes held that peculiar animalistic knowledge, that strong instinct to survive that was within every being, but that humans had slowly forgotten, only to come out at the very last moment.

When the kid had sat down beside him, Hans was sure he had been discovered. There was no way the boy hadn't seen him, while he was just a few centimeters away from him. And yet, the boy did not acknowledge him. It was almost as if he didn't see him. And since the boy apparently hadn't seen him, the blond boy continued to study his unexpected neighbor.

The ears on top of his head were brown, just like his hair, with slight touches of grey on the very tips. They reminded him greatly of the ones his own dog had. His tail, that wagged occasionally, looked the same, and Hans had the sudden argue to touch it. Holding himself back, the pale boy reminded himself that an action such as that one would be completely childish and would give himself away.

The other half-boy, half-animal kid didn't move. His eyes were watching the mouvements of the man that had come with them. When the man had turned his back to them, the weird boy hid himself in Hans's own hidding place, making the blond boy almost scream. This was stopped by the other boy's lighting-fast mouvements, placing a hand over his mouth.

"Shhhh," he murmured against the other boy's ear. "Or we will get caught."

Hans, unable to do anything else, forced himself to calm down. When the little brunet had deemed it safe, he took back his hand , smiling at the other child. "Hi!" he said as softly as possible. "I'm Adolf. And you?"

Greatly surprised, but knowing it would be rude to ignore the boy, Hans answered. "I'm Hans. Pleased to meet you," he had added, for his Mommy had told him that that was something to say when meeting someone.

The other boy, Adolf, only smiled wider. "This is the first time I meet a full human my age," he said, the smile on his face almost breaking it in half. He was obviously excited by the prospect, for his tail wouldn't stop wagging.

"Well," Hans didn't know what to say to something like that. He met plently of... _full humans_ his age in his life. "I have never met somebody with a tail." He was blushing hard, he could feel it, but he did not know what to do. After all, Adolf was watching him so intensely, it made him slightly uncomfortable.

Sensing it, the brunet blushed as well and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry for bothering you. Do you want me to leave?"

"No!" Hans quickly followed his statement with a shake of his head. "It's just... could you stop looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know... but please stop."

"Okay! Whatever the Master wants!"

"Master?" Hans had to blink at that. "I'm not your Master."

"You are not?" Adolf looked sincerely surprised. "But the teacher says that all the humans are our Masters until we are bought for a specific one."

"Well she's wrong," Hans nodded his head, as if his word held more value than a teacher's. "You aren't an animal, and at school we learn that we should treat everybody equally. My mommy says that we souldn't care about what people look like and not to judge them by their looks. That would be su... super... superfacial."

"Don't you mean 'superficial'?"

"Yeah! That!" the little boy nodded his head again, his long hair following his mouvements.

"But... I'm not... _human_," Adolf insisted.

"You look human to me. Apart from the tail and ears. Mommy says that those thing are what makes us especial."

"My ears and tail make me especial?" the little child had his brown eyes wide open, as if he didn't believe a word the blond said.

"Sure they do. Mommy says that the things that make us different from others makes us especial, and my mommy is _never_ wrong."

"So I'm especial..." Adolf couldn't seem to trust what his new companion was saying, but the tiny hope that shone in his eyes said otherwise.

Ever since they had been created, they had been told time and time again that they were nothing. Without the humans they were useless, they wouldn't even exist and they should repay the favour by serving them. All of the little children had been scared, for if what the big humans said was true, that they were just that, _nothing_, they had no reason to exist. None of them wanted to be useless, so each did their very best to please their creators. They never seemed truly staisfied and for that reason, a simple word of praise ment everything for them.

It ment that maybe they weren't useless, that maybe they had a reason to live in this world.

"Is this a school?" Hans asked, not noticing anything weird in his possibly new friend's attitude. The question had been bothering him for a while so he just had to ask. Because if this was a school, it certainly was weird.

"Yep," the other boy answered, brought out of his stuppor. "In here we learn how to protect our Master's later on, and how to serve them well."

"But it's so weird," Hans insisted. "There are no windows, no playgrounds... it's weird."

"Your's has windows and playgrounds?" Adolf didn't seem to believe him.

"Yeah," and the blond boy proceeded on telling his companion everything. He told him about his school, his life, his mommy, his dog. The brunet would then constantly ask questions. He would ask about the sky, the grass, about forests and many other things. His eyes shone with curiosity and yearning.

"I wish I could see things like that."

"Why don't you?" Hans asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well... we aren't allowed to leave this place until we are qualified and deemed worthy."

"Really?" the pale boy couldn't seem to believe it. "That's wrong. Mommy says that nobody should be held against their will. We are all free to do what we wish."

"_Free_..." young Adolf whispered. There was so much longing in his voice that Hans said the first thing that passed through his head.

"Why don't you run away?"

"Run away?"

"Yeah, like on the movies," Hans woved his hand widely, accompaning his words. "You should all join together and run away. That way you can see the sky, the grass... anything you wished for."

They both were silent for a long time, neither knowing what to say after that. They had almost forgotten where they were, but were quickly reminded by the whistle the man blew at that moment. It was time to begin the second part of the training.

"I should leave," whispered Hans, not looking into the eyes of his new friend. He was slightly embarassed. He had forgotten where he was, and know his Daddy was probably worried.

"Me too," answered Adolf. "It was great meeting you."

"I hope we meet again."

They both parted. While Hans sneaked out of the gym and started his search for his Daddy, Adolf returned to his teacher. The blond boy was quickly found, but never did he tell his father about his little meeting. Neither did Adolf, whose mind was swirling with new ideas and something he had never imagined to feel. Hope.

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That's that. Did you guess who Hans and Adolf are? I bet you did. If you didn't, that's too bad. Hans and Adolf are none other than Germania and Rome. They may seem a bit OC, but I'm trying to keep in mind that neither of them are nations, Adolf is in a very special situation and Germania is simply a six year old kid. Constructive criticism is very VERY welcomed, but I'm not very good handling flames so don't be mean! I will try to update soon!

As I said, any questions, I'm more than happy to answer.

By the way, a Beta reader would be nice. Anybody interested on helping me out?


	3. Chapter 3

Well, here is the next chapter. Big, big, BIG thanks to Hippie Vampire who helped me out with mistakes and everything else that could make this story almost as awesome as Prussia (:P)! I also thank everybody for reviewing, placing this story on their Alert list or just plain reading it. You have no idea how giddy I am to simply know that there are people who like my story. So lets not keep you waiting and get on with the chapter.

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20 years later...

It had only taken two decades for the whole world to go spiraling downwards. It had all started _exactly_ nineteen years before hand, when those belonging to the Government financed project, HOMOANIMA had escaped from their 'school'. This had sent the whole state in an uproar, and later on the entire world was completely lost. For centuries humans had been on top of the food-chain, having power over every creature's life, either directly or indirectly. Humans had the possibility to annihilate an entire race with just a flick of a finger but now, they could very well become the prey.

They had created a whole knew being that surpassed them in _every_ aspect, with the sole purpose of making them their own personal slaves. They had believed that they could control them, they had thought that their creation wouldn't turn against them. They had never been more wrong.

Like when Nature turned itself against humanity to remind them just who had the power, the HOMOANIMAs had shown them just who was stronger, in one swift move that had left everybody speechless.

To know that seven year-old kids -even if there were thousands of them- had been able to escape from a place that was believed to be the 'perfect prison' so easily scared them. This sent the Government on high alert, even going as far as appearing on TV, where they explained their people the situation.

Voices had then risen. Some were furious that the Government had done something so disgusting, and wanted nothing more than to talk things over with them. After all, even if they were half-animals they were still humans, and reflected and felt like everybody else. Others, on their part, considered those kids as a danger that had to be eliminated. They were so young and already able to cause so much chaos and destruction, who knew what they would do next. They couldn't let such a powerful race to spread like a disease.

The Government wanted nothing more than to get rid of (as they called it) their mistake. Using a formidable weapon to have the population by their side, they started influencing the schools. Those of the youngest generation found themselves listening to the dangers that new race represented, and little by little they learnt how to fear them. Their parents weren't better off, for propaganda had also made its appeareance. One couldn't walk outside from their home without seeing posters and slogans warning them of the dangers.

Rumors also started increasing. There were tales about whole villages nobody had ever heard about burnt down, about how cattle kept on disappearing, how those new creatures killed people without mercy, for that was what they were trained to do. Many couldn't help but fear them, and those who didn't, never dared to voice their own opinions, for they would then be accused of fraternity with the enemy.

To face such problems, a new kind of army was created. They were called the Specialized Army, or the SA, in which young men and women were trained specifically to fight against the Hybrids, the name that had been given to that race. They were genetically modified, their senses, strenght and speed pushed to the maximum. They were almost inhuman, and were the only ones who could match against the new problem.

The hunt had then begun.

The SA searched everywhere for them, looking in every nook and cranny; most of the time their prey lived in the woods, or in any other natural area they could find. At first things were easier. Their prey was young, inexperienced, and like any newborn and youngling, they made mistakes. Mistakes that cost them their lives.

But things got harder. As time passed, they grew up, learnt how to live in different environments and survive. Their human mind also helped matters, making them cunning and far more intelligent than their hunters. The Hybrids then started moving, spreading towards other places, making themselves a nuisance to other countries and places.

The problem had turned international.

They were hunted everywhere, but they learnt how to survive. If there was one thing they had gained from humans, it was very well their uncanny ability to move past any obstacle. Like humans who were able to raise to their feet after a natural catastrophe, Hybrids had gained that same talent. They were able to spread and increase in numbers, finding a partner between themselves or even from a human who didn't share the beliefs of the rest of the world.

That didn't mean the hunting ever stopped.

Alfred F. Jones was a simple kid. Six years of age, little Alfred had beautiful blond hair and sky blue eyes that proved themselves useful whenever he wanted something. When he was born, his mother had passed away, leaving behind her baby and her husband. At the beginning, it was only Alfred and his dad, until, a fateful day two years ago, Mr. Jones met the lovely Mrs. Williams. They had started dating and Mrs. Williams' son, Matthew, got along with Alfred. In fact, both looked very much alike, to the point were nobody wouldn't belive they weren't twins.

After the marriage, the new Mrs. Jones and her son moved with her new husband and his own son, which had happened a year ago. Since then, Alfred and Matthew considered themsleves as real brothers, and they wouldn't listen otherwise, even if little Mattie had kept his father's name.

They lived in a little house that was a bit far from the city, with a forest nearby. The happy family sometimes had picnics in a clearing not too far inside the forest, but never dared wander further. After all, the place could be infested by wild animals and Hybrids.

Alfred was a little boy whose greatest hero was no other than one of the top heads of the SA, Hans Beilschmidt. Hans' father had been one of the men that had worked on the HOMOANIMA project, and was also widely known for his skills in battle. He wasn't one of the men that had _actually_ participated on a fight, but he had interfered whenever one of the Hybrids went berserk and won defending his fellow soldiers. This and his tactical genius had easily risen him up to becoming one of the Captains of the squads, and the one rumored to become General later on in his career.

Alfred admired him greatly, and even went as far as to declare, the very first day of kindergarten, that he would join the SA once he had the age. His greatest dream was to be considered a hero by those around him, become an idol for little kids just like Hans had become his.

For that reason, Alfred would constantly put himself in situations that -he believed- would permit him to become a great soldier one day. Sometimes he would help old ladies, at school he constantly protected his peers from bullying and he sometimes fought whenever he believed the moment was right (which usually was when somebody mocked him about becoming a hero). He was a very charming boy, very sweet, and constantly he was able to get out of serious trouble.

His only weakness was his irrational fear for ghost and the supernatural. He was easily afraid of ghost stories, he didn't like sneaking out of his room during the night and for that reason, he slept with his alien plushie, Tony at night. He insisted Tony scared away the ghost and spirits that came to hunt him. That little toy was his favorite, and never left his side.

That night, as little Alfred prepared himself to sleep, he noticed something, or rather someone was missing. Searching through his whole room, he couldn't find Tony, and quickly started panicking. Running outside to his brother's room, he walked inside, where Mattie was already in his bed and waiting for his mother to come to sing him a lullaby.

"Have you seen Tony?" he rushed to the bed, looking around at the same time in case his toy was around.

"No," Matthew shook his head, making his little curl that defied gravity shake alongside.

"Where could I have left it?"

"Maybe you left it in the forest? 'Cause I remember you brought Tony with us to the picnic but I don't remember seeing him on the way back," his brother said in his usual, soft voice.

"Oh God, you are right!" Alfred looked absolutely horrified. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't played with Tony when they had come back to the house, and he remembered clearly that he had left him leaning against a tree, but not when he picked him up. "I have to go and find him!"

"You are joking! It's already very late, you can't go to the forest!"

But as usual, Alfred didn't even listen. He was already out of the room, running down the stairs and going out to their backyard, that also opened to the forest. He didn't pay attention to his father and his new mother that had seen him run, but hadn't been able to stop him.

Before he knew it, he was already inside the forest, but with no idea of where he was. At day, he was proud to say that he could find his way through the forest, but at night things seemed to change. Everything seemed bigger, he couldn't make out any colours and everything looked the same. He couldn't see the trail that his family took to walk towards the clearing, he couldn't see anything. His breathing quickened and when he heard the sound of leaves been stept on, he ran.

He didn't know where he was going and he was probably loosing himself more. As he ran, things seemed to darken and he realized that he was entering the deeper part of the forest, the one his parents had told him to never go in. He didn't know where to go, he couldn't see anything in front of him and for that reason, he tripped over a root.

He fell down, hurting his knee and creating scratches on his arms. Sitting up, Alfred looking around himself. He didn't know what direction he should take, the trees seemed to approach him, circling him. He felt trapped and he admitted to himself that he was scared. The sound of the tree branches moving with the wind, the rustle of leaves sent shiver down his spine. He tried to pay attention, in case he heard something. Something that could hurt hurt him, kill him.

He couldn't tell how much time he passed like that. Minutes or hours, it didn't matter, time seemed to have stopped for him. It only continued its pace when he heard something.

It was very soft at first, so soft he had believed it was simply the wind. But the sound grew and he soon distiguished footsteps. Somebody was running, and fast.

Whatever else was also in the forest was rushing towards his general direction. Soon after he heard shouts, that followed the person (for they were a person) and he could tell they were ordering them to stop. The footsteps were so near by then, the person couldn't be further than a few meters. Alfred hoped that they wouldn't come to his direction, but his hopes were proven fruitless. They were definitely going to pass by him.

As answering his thoughts, the person stopped right in front of him. The man (he could tell they were a man even if the light wasn't the best) turned his head towards him. He couldn't tell very well in the dark, but he thought that the person had dark hair. He was tall and well-built, his muscular arms crossed in front of his chest, as if holding something. He was extremely careful with his package, as if afraid to brake whatever he held so dearly.

The shouts grew louder, the man turned his head slightly, as if to listen closely and thats when Alfred saw them, poking outside the man's hair. _Wolf ears_. Open mouthed, Alfred stretched his neck to see behind the man. He saw the tail that stiffened, sensing danger. Eyes wide open, Alfred opened his mouth to scream, but the Hybrid had then cought him by the collar of his pyjamas. He fought to escape, kicked the air and attempted to punch the male. The other one didn't seem the least bit bothered, but simply used his other arm to hold his little package firmly.

It was the that the SA squad appeared. They were all armed and ready to fire, but hesitated for two seconds, seeing the young human boy under the Hybrid's firm hold. It was more than enough time for the Wolf-Hybrid.

Throwing the six year-old to one of the surprised SA members, he turned around and ran, knowing that now he held a significant advantage over his hunters.

The squad knew that as well. Dropping their equipment, they turned to the little boy, who was clrealy scared out of his mind. Calming him as best as they could, they then turned around and began their walk to the boy's house, holding his hand along the way, always attentive to any suspicious disturbance.

There was none.

It was that night, while his parents shouted at him and embraced him tightly against them, thanking the SA members over and over again, that Alfred wanted more than ever to become a Specialized Army soldier. He wanted to safe people from those creatures that will hunt his nightmares for a long time, remembering that powerful and deadly grip on his shirt, the force in which he had been thrown.

They were dangerous, frightening and... he was going to hunt them down.

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So there you go! I hoped you liked it. Again, I want to thank HV for helping me in my moments of greatest need (I feel like I'm participating on a beauty pageant when I say things like that) and review if you have anything to say! If you don't... you can still review, just to tell me how awesome my chapter was (joking!).

Well, I'm off to work, so better get ready for the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

She's BACK! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I'm back with a brand new chapter. I have to say that, so far, this one is my favorite, I had quite some fun writing it. I hope you guys have fun reading it too. Thanks for all the reviews and everything! But lets not keep you waiting, so on with the story!

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A meeting...

Life within the office had been pretty calm lately. There was nothing to do, no calls from slightly panicking people saying they had seen something, no alarm resounding through the building and warning them that danger was up ahead. Nothing.

It was pretty boring.

"I'm bored!" exclaimed the young teenager, dramatically flinging his whole body over his desk, throwing papers to the floor. "There's nothing to do, we haven't been on a hunt for months now and I think I'm going insane!"

"Alfred," another voice rose beside him. Raising his head slightly, the whining teenager turned towards the person who had called him. Tall and muscular, with blond hair lighter than his own pushed back, giving him a more intimidating air, the other teenager watched the paper that now decorated the floor with clear distaste. "Shut up."

Seeing the glare he was receiving, Alfred decided internally that he could defy his superior some other time (like, when he wouldn't die some painful, un-heroic death) to show just who was the hero here. "Whatever," he muttered, trying not to look into the eyes that were _still_ glaring at him.

"Hola!" another voice joined them, soon followed by its owner. "I brought more paperwork?"

Hearing this, Alfred turned dangerously white. He looked at the mountain of paper that approached him, comparing it to the monster he was sure hid himself below his bed. When the paperwork was placed on his desk, he almost fainted. "El capitán said that this had to be done by the end of next week. He also asked for the papers that had to be signed and filed today." A head poked from behind the stack of papers, revealing a young and handsome face. Slightly curly, brown hair and shining green eyes, it could be no other than Antonio Fernandez Carreido, the Spanish kid of their team.

"Oh yeah, the paperwork," Alfred murmured, just now remembering that he had another stack of papers (although it was slightly smaller than the new one) to finish for today. He could feel Ludwig's glare intensify, having already understood the situation.

"The paperwork is done, isn't it Alfred?" he said through gritted teeth, already knowing the answer.

"Uhm, well... You see..." inside, Alfred was panicking. God, what was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell him that, instead of working on the paperwork like he sould have been doing, he had wasted most of the time playing with his computer, going into online games and being a general hero in the digital world. He had been one of the first to reach level fifty, and he was determinated to reach level hundred, becoming the first one to have ever reached it. He believed that that justified everything, but he didn't think Ludwig was cool enough to understand.

Ludwig's glare got harsher as his question wasn't answered. "_Alfred_," oh God, that voice! The mentioned teenager started hyperventilating. He was so sure he was going to die right now, and he hadn't reached the title of General yet, or even hunted single-handedly a Hybrid! He briefly considered the possibility of begging for forgiveness, but he had the feeling the light-blond wouldn't be merciful this time, especially after the prank he pulled last week. How was he to know that Ludwig happened to be in the shower when he created a false alarm? Heck, he had never considered the other man to wear a flashy pink shower hat (never mind the fact that he had to wear it because Alfred had sort of taken his see-through one and replaced with the other) and the matching bathrobe Gilbert had given him last Christmas, that wasn't tied up like it should have been.

God, he still had nightmares about that, and he was pretty much convinced that Gilbert visited a therapist for this particular problem. Maybe he should get one too?

Pondering over these thoughts, Alfred kind of forgot the reason behind them. He didn't notice the twitching blond beside him, who was clearly trying not to do anything drastic, and the forever blissfully oblivious Antonio just kept on smiling, failing to see the tension between his two co-workers, simply waiting for either of them to give him the paperwork.

This scene could have continued for some time, had there not being another interruption.

"The awsome me is here!" shouted a slightly older man as he opened the door in a cassic, theatrical move. The new comer had a wicked smile on his lips, arms wide open over his head, expecting an applause after his amazing entrance. Receiving none, he dropped his arms back down, pouting. "What's with this welcome? The awesome me deserves more than that! You should be thankful that I'm even thinking about hanging out with you losers."

"But Gilbert," the ever-smiling Antonio said. "You don't have anybody else to hang out with."

Wincing slightly, the albino wasn't deterred. "Sure I have other people to hang out with! People who are much more cooler than you guys and who actually appreciate my awesome."

Alfred for his part, snorted. "Sure, as if anybody thinks you are awesome. If there's anybody awesome around here, that'll be me. After all, I am the hero!"

Ludwig, who had long since given up on his older brother and was seriously thinking on giving up on the rest of his team as well, sighed. He could feel a headache forming inside his head. God, he need something, and quick.

As he was just walking away from the two idiots who where fighting about who was more awesome and away from the smiling Antonio, who looked quite amused by the fight going on, a metallic voice broke the atmosphere. "Could agents Beilschmidt, Beilschmidt, Carreido and Jones please head up towards Captain Beilschmidt's office? He wishes to talk with you."

All of them fell silent for a few seconds, before both Gilbert and Alfred met each others eyes. Ruby red clashed with sky blue, and before anybody knew it they were both rushing down the hallways towards their teacher within the SA. Blinking slightly, both Antonio and Ludwig turned towards each other, one smiling and the other sighting before they too made their way towards Hans Beilschmidt's office.

Gilbert and Alfred, on the other hand, were out to break a new record. They both ran as if their lives depended on it, keeping a close eyes on their adversary. The people who were simply walking within their improvised track had different reactions. Some jumped out of the way, knowing how dangerous it was to place themselves in front of those men when they were in the middle of a competition; others, who hadn't been able to move fast enough, simply threw themselves to the floor, becoming a slight obstacle that the SA trainers jumped over easily. Things such at that happened way too many times within the office for anyone to be seriously shocked. Except maybe the newbies, but they learnt how to cope fast enough.

When their goal was within sight, both of them ran faster. Rushing towards the door, both threw themselves towards the door, which opened instantly, recognizing them. Both toppled through the door, falling to the floor in a mess of arms and legs. The person within the room didn't even bother rising his head.

Leaning over his desk, the man looked over some papers, turning his head towards his computer from time to time. While Gilbert and Alfred made themselves presetanble, the long haired man rose his head slightly, looking towards Ludwig and Antonio, who had just arrived. Cool blue eyes regarded each of them, taking in Ludwig's defeated posture, Antonio's annoying smile, Gilbert's 'cooler than you' attitude and Alfred's slouching position. Closing his eyes, the person sighed, motioning them forwards with his hand.

Approaching, the four-man squad stood in front of their leader and teacher, attempting to look professional. Whether or not they were able to, they didn't know, but Ludwig definitely looked the most professional out of them all. They waited for their leader to talk, and when he didn't for the next seconds, both Alfred and Gilbert strated twitching. This earned them a glare from their blond co-worker, while Antonio looked on, his mind somewhere else.

Feeling that the peace within his office wouldn't last long, Hans Beilschmidt opened his eyes. "I called for you," he started, leaning forwards and crossing his hands in front of him, "for a simple reason: you will get your first mission without me as your leader."

The reactions this statement gained varied. Antonio kept on smiling, as if this didn't surprise him, Ludwig straightened himself, sensing the importance of this and the other two...

They started jumping as if he had just told them Christmas would be celebrated every day and handed over the present they had desired for quite some time now.

Sighing once again, Hans looked ready to shoot himself... or maybe somebody within the vicinity.

"Your mission is a simple reconnaissance mission. We have reasons to believe that the forest nearby has been taken by some Hybrids. Some camper insisted that they had seen something. You will meet him at the forest, and from there he will take you towards the place he believes he saw one of them. From there, I want you to search for any proof of there being any unwanted visitors. Remember, this mission is a reconnaissance one. That means, no violence nor attacks unless you are attacked." As he said this, both his eyes turned towards the albino and the dirty blond that formed half of his team.

"Oh come on! It only happened _one_ time," Gilbert crossed his arms in defense. "And it's not like I killed them or anything."

"You hurt a civilian, agent Beilschmidt."

"That bastard had it coming. He shouldn't have questioned my awesome."

"That's not a reason to fire Beilschmidt." One could tell by the sigh that left Hans' lips that they had had this conversetion one too many times. "In any case, there should be no attacks. Ludwig will be the leader for this mission." Rising his hand when he saw Alfred's mouth opening, he said, "That's final. Please head over towards the Weapons Room, where you will be equipped accordingly."

Recogizing a dismissal when he saw one, Ludwig saluted and turned around, followed closely by the rest of his team.

The Weapons Room was located on the underground floors. Kept under high security, with bodyguards, eye scanners, digital imprints, a voice detector and all the kind of things that are seen on the movies, the room held thousands of different weapons (ranking from your standard gun to a small bomb powerful enough to take out a medium sized city) and equipement needed for the men and women of the Specialized Army. It was there were all of the functional weapons created in the Laboratory a floor below were found.

When they arrived they were quickly ushered towards the dressing room, where they were handed over their outfits and all the things they needed for their mission. Like always, evolution had brought along new types of things, this being specially true in the science domain. Medicine had vastly progressed and with it so had the creation of new weapons, like it always happened in times of fear and danger. It was only logical for them to have the sort of things that had once only existed in science-fiction.

The standard uniform, the one usually worn in the 'simple' missions such reconnaissance ones, was simple. It consisted of a one piece suit, like the ones professional bikers and such wore, but with some extra things, like regulation of the owner's body heat, adaptation to the foliage (changing to basic colors like green and brown to white if needed), and the synthetic material it was made of being flexible and bulletproof. There was a belt fastened around the hip, which gave easy access to the small pockets that held small pills that were used to give the agent energy containing proteins and glucides created on the Laboratory, along with a few smoke bombs to confound the enemy. There was a gun holster on one side (depending if the person was left or right handed), normally holding the standard gun. It was simple, black and easy to handle and carry. The gun used paralyzing darts, that when getting in contact with something, they would send a powerful electrical shock. Not enough to kill, but enough to stop the enemy. Daggers, knifes and any other weapon of the sort were out of sight, hidden some place in their outfit.

The finishing touches, were the two things all agents must have at all times. One was their bracelet, that was sort of like a portable and discreet computer, enabling a constant communication with all members, a digital tri-dimesional map of the world and of any place they could be, along with a tracking device, so that others could know their location in case they were utterly lost or kidnapped. The other, had been inspired by a popular manga back in the day, where some of the characters had what they called scouters. The scouter their scientists had created was basically like a pair of glasses, unlike those of the manga, that were used over one eye. Worn like every other glasses, this ones had night-vision, heat and movement detectors, scanners and many other things that one saw and read in spy-themed works.

Once they were ready for the mission, they headed out. In front of their quarters was waiting for them a nice, just-out-in-the-market car. Friendly to the environment, the cars used by the SA were the kind of cars fanatics dreamt to drive once in their life. This one was sleek and black, just big enough for the four of them. After a small debate between them (notably between Alfred and Gilbert) it was voted that Ludwig would be the one to drive. First of all, because he was probably the only one who had gotten their license without needing to pass the test three times and coercing their examiner, and second of all, because he was probably the only one who knew what 'speed limits' and 'safe driving' meant.

When they arrived their destination (after a few attempts of mutiny from both Alfred and Gilbert) they met their guide. He was waiting them at the outskirts of the forest, holding a very dangerous gun on his hand. In fact, some started wondering if he even had the right to own a gun like that one. He presented himself as Vash Zwingli, he had short blond hair in a bob cut, green eyes and a volatile temper, fact proven by the bullet that missed Gilbert's face by a centimeter, after the albino had made a move on the guy.

Vash quickly lead them to the place where he had seen the Hybrid, very clearly stating the fact that he wanted to stay as far away as possible from those idiots. Especially the albino one. As he went he recounted them the events. He explained that he had gone out for a picnic with his sister, and while they had been eating the Hybrid had approached them.

"He was a male. Kind of short, with dark brown hair and eyes. Had a weird curl that whent like this," he made a motion with his hand. "On the... left side of his face I think. He was part wolf or dog from what I could tell from his ears, and didn't look very offensive or dangerous. In fact, as soon as he saw my gun, he ran as far away as he could from me."

By then they had arrived at their destination. It wasn't a very big clearing, but seemed quite small and privet, the perfect place for some solitude. It wasn't too far into the forest, and after thanking Vash, the short blond left, not before another attempt for Gilbert's life, who had asked for his personal number.

"Alright," Ludwig turned towards his team. He was getting a little bit _too_ used on people trying to kill his brother. Maybe he should worry? "Turn on your scouters and separate. If anybody sees anything, remember not to do anything rash (at this he turned towards the two memebers of his team he was sure wouldn't listen). We are here to observe. If you are attacked, then you can retaliate but only if that's the case. Call for backup if it's needed, or contact any of us if you see anything." He eyed every member of his team warily; worried that somebody would do something stupid. Which considering _who_ he had on his team, wasn't an irrational worry.

"If this mission fails, I remind you that we will be forced to continue going on missions with Hans. If that's the case, we will have to wait for another year before we can try another mission like this one. Don't do anything stupid." Letting out another sigh, he ordered everyone to scatter and scout for anything of importance.

They each took different routes, promising to return in four hours in the small clearing. Alfred for his part, went to the right, taking his gun out of its holster. He knew he didn't need it, for normally he was here to observe, but one could never be too sure (he didn't want to admit that he did that because it made him feel cooler). He had been able to join the SA fresh out of middle school, and had then gone through a three-year training under the watchful eyes of his hero, Hans. He had done his best at everything, but had yet to fight against a real, in the wild Hybrid. He had spars against a few of them, trained to fight, but he had yet to fight in a match were nobody would blow a whistle to stop it before it got too dangerous. His missions normally consisted on following Hans and learning from what he did, obeying every one of his orders, which was kind of boring because Hans was more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy and never took real action, but he gave out orders and created strategies.

And the paperwork! Ever since the sightings of Hybrids had slowed down (which happened around this time of the year, for some reason), they had received nothing but paperwork. He had already gone through two months of torture, even if he never really did his job and it was always up to Ludwig and Antonio to do it, because Gilbert couldn't be trusted on any sort of responsibility.

Walking carefully through the forest floor, Alfred kept an eye and ear out for anything unusual. He had to keep himself especially silent, something that was quite hard to do because even his slightest of footsteps made a little bit of sound, even if it could be hidden behind the sounds of the local fauna and the rustle of leaves, but any Hybrid who respected themselves would be able to catch it easily. It took all his self control not to start humming a song or making just a little bit of noise to calm his nerves. He missed the noises of the city, the constant car that zoomed by, the sound of people walking outside, talking, laughing and simply making as much noise as possible. He didn't like the calmness that reigned over the forest. It made him uneasy and on edge.

Hearing something not too far away from him, the dirty blond strained his ear to listen. He caught the sound of a waterfall and he decided to check it out. From what he had seen on the tri-dimensional map his bracelet furnished, the waterfall lead to a decent sized stream, the only source of water ther was in miles. Considering it a good placed to check out (because Hybrids, just like any living being, needed water to survive) Alfred made his way towards the stream. Maybe, if he was lucky, a Hybrid would already be there.

And lucky he was.

When he approached the waterfall, his scouter caught movements that weren't normal. Keeping himself silent, he could feel his heart trying to escape his ribcage. He couldn't get ahead of himself, maybe it was just an animal, or simply there was a malfunction on his scouter or maybe...

Or maybe it really was a Hybrid.

Finding a bush big enough for him to hide on, Alfred crouched down, studying the Hybrid in front of him. He was quite sure it was a male, even if he was quite slim and small for a guy. Definitely wasn't the one Vash had seen, because this one, from what he could tell, was blond and had rabbit ears on top of his head. He couldn't really tell, but he was sure the other was younger than him, for he was just starting to show signs of puberty. Maybe thirteen, and that was him being generous.

The Hybrid was washing himself, dunking his head on the water to wash his hair and ears, and had quite obviously not sensed the intruder to his privacy. Alfred watched attentively, curiously noting that without the ears (and the tail, but he couldn't really see it for it was underwater) one could almost say that the other blond was like anybody else. He acted human enough, at least.

Thinking up a plan, Alfred weighed his options. On one hand, he could do what he was told to do, observe, register and later call his team members when the danger of being caught had passed. On the other hand, he could catch the young Hybrid on his own, take him to the headquarters for interrogation and become the hero. That would surely show Gilbert just who was more awesome between the two of them.

Smiling to himself, the sixteen year-old knew what was the best action to take. Bring up his gun to fire, he forgot the first rule to be respected on missions. _Always be aware of your surroundings_.

Getting his gun ready to fire, Alfred didn't hear the sound of leaves being stepped on until it was too late. When he realized somebody was behind him, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, and right before he blacked out the Hybrid he had been watching turned completely around to face him.

The last thing he saw were beautiful green irises under a pair of bushy eyebrows.

* * *

So, did you guys guess who was taking a shower on the stream? I bet you did. Who was it that Vash saw in the forest? I bet you know that too. I was wondering, should I make this a PrussiaxSwitzerland pairing? Or maybe something else? I'm quite open for anything, heck you can even ask me to put him with China for all I care, as long as my Iggy, my Feli and my Lovi are with those they are meant to be with (America, Germany and Spain, becuase they are soooooo cute together).

Hand over any ideas you may have, I'll see what I can do with them.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello! This is the newest chapter of Hybrid! I hope you like it and I want to thank everyone for their reviews and comments on this story. It makes me feel loved :P. A BIG Thanks to Hippie Vampire, my Beta! And without further ado, let the chapter begin!

* * *

A reunion of sorts...

He was back in the office of his teacher and he couldn't help but feel nervous. This had been the first mission his team had done without their teacher and he had lost consciousness. When he had woken up in the infirmary of the SA quarters, the first thing he saw was Gilbert's mocking smile. The whole time his team had visited him, he had to listen the albino's jokes and jeers. Antonio and Ludwig had to restrain him from hurting the other one, until a nurse came to stop them. Enough said, Gilbert was forbidden from entering the infirmary until further notice (which probably meant forever).

When he had been asked what had happened, Alfred didn't know what to say. Admitting that he had been attacked from behind would only egg Gilbert on, but he didn't know what to say otherwise. That he had tripped? No way in hell! That would just make him a bigger loser. He had told everybody that he couldn't remember anything, so the doctor kept him for another two days to run some tests, in case there was any brain damage (Gilbert was kind enough to point out that you couldn't have any brain damage if you had no brain, but the doctor didn't listen).

So here he was, two days after the mission, in Hans' office. He stood in front of the man's desk, his other team members behind him. He fidgeted a bit, not knowing what to do. "So Alfred," Hans started, leaning against his chair in a gesture of faux nonchalance. "Mind telling me what happened?"

The dirty blond started playing with his hands. He had thought this over while he had been in the hospital, and from what Ludwig had told him they had found nothing, so they believed that the Hybrid had moved away after being seen. Alfred didn't exactly share this hypothesis, but didn't say a thing. "I don't remember anything... sir," he had added the last part as an afterthought, remembering who he was talking to.

"Nothing?" Hans didn't seem to believe him. "Not even a little detail?"

"No sir." Alfred had decided after much deliberation (it's not as if he suddendly decided to do this, oh no, who do you think he was?) that he wouldn't say anything. He felt as if this was something more than a simple mission. This was personal. He had been attacked from behind, the Hybrid he had been about to catch had escaped him and he couldn't just let things as they were. He wanted to catch him with his own hands, bring him back to justice like any other hero would have done. In short, even if he wouldn't admit it, he wanted revenge.

He had been humiliated, even if nobody knew that. Things couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't end like this. He was a hero damn it! And heroes never back down. He was going to show that Hybrid just who was the boss here!

Even if Hans didn't seem convinced, he let the matter drop. "The doctor recommended a whole week of rest. No missions, no training," the older blond didn't seem very pleased when he said that. "He says that you needed a short vacation. The brain damage, even if it isn't present right now, could manifest itself later on. For that reason, I order you to leave the headquarters today and rest." The man seemed to be dying inside. "Don't do anything too strenuous," _and stupid_ went unsaid but one could just feel those words in the air. "I expect you to be in perfect shape when you return."

And so, Alfred F. Jones left the SA quarters for a week, his team and Hans hoping the blond man would obey Hans and doctor's orders and not do anything stupid.

But this was Alfred F. Jones. If there was two things he was good at, it was not listening to orders and do things most could qualify as stupid.

When he had been sent away to rest, Alfred put his plan into action. He lived in an apartment right in the middle of the city. He shared said apartment with his 'twin', Matthew ever since both left their family home to try out their luck in the city. The only reason both had been able to leave at the tender age of thirteen was because the complex in which they lived in belonged to a friend of Mrs. Jones, who had promised to watch over the kids.

While Alfred followed his training to become a Specialized Agent, Matthew continued going to school. He didn't know what he wanted to do later on, but he loved animals. He couldn't bring himself to eat much meat, and what little he ate was forced down his throat by Alfred and his mother's friend. His favorite animal was the polar bear. In fact, he even had one as a pet, but since the complex had a 'No Pets allowed' policy Matthew was forced to hid him. Alfred was quite proud that his brother could actually be sneaky when he wanted to. Maybe Mattie wasn't completely lost yet, he had once said.

For that reason, when Alfred arrived home the only one there to greet him was the polar bear. Moving swiftly to his room, the dirty blond brought out his knapsack, the one he used when he went out camping or for missions in which he would be away for some time.

Grabbing a few shirts, one or two shorts and everything else he usually took for camping trips, Alfred was almost ready to go. He decided to leave his bracelet behind, because then people would know where he was, and he couldn't have that. He knew that if Hans ever learnt what exactly he had being doing during his supposed 'rest vacations' he would ensure that the dirty blond didn't survive to see the next day and he couldn't have that happening. After all, he had yet to become a hero known throughout the world.

What he didn't leave behind was his scouter. When he reached his teens, he had to use glasses, so the Science Lab was more than happy to create him normal glasses that had all the functions of a scouter. He couldn't leave behind his glasses/scouter if he didn't want to have some problems with his eyesight.

He left behind a note, telling his brother that he was leaving for a week or so to the border. This explanation was the most logical. Hybrids possed lots of problems in the borders, trying to enter or leave the city, sneaking through the security that had been placed. In fact, most of his missions took him to the border, so he knew Matthew wouldn't ask many questions.

The first thing he had to ensure was that nobody knew of his whereabouts, in case somebody had seen through his little white lie. So maybe he wasn't going to the border, but he was still on a mission, little mattered what others said. Taking the bus, he made his way to the forest where his last mission had taken place. Trying to be as discreet as possible -which didn't exactly work because no matter what people say or do on TV, hiding behind poles and walls it wasn't discreet- Alfred made his way through his city.

Cities had developed with time. They were huge now and one single mayor couldn't handle the whole thing. For that reason the city was separated in different zones, each one under the care of a different mayor of sorts, who later on passed the things that could affect the city as a hole to their own boss. You could say that a city had become like a mini-country on its own, with a President of sorts and governors under him or her who handled their own estate.

Alfred and his brother, on their own part, lived in the more secure and higher classed zone of the whole city, since it was there that the SA headquarters were found. There were certainly zones in which criminology was quite high, but Alfred had never ventured there, for it wasn't his job to take care of those things. Problems like stealing, murder and rape where on the hands of the local police, or maybe even of the city police if it happened to someone of high status and influence. Matthew sometimes visited those zones, for the simple reason that he wanted to help in any way possible. He was a good kid like that.

The place in which the Canine Hybrid had been sighted (and his own Bunny one) was not far from the border. That zone was a place were Nature lovers usually lived, not caring if the presence of Hybrids was high. That zone had the most parks than the rest of the city (four or five, while Alfred's own zone only had one) along with the forest for campers and those in search of a little adventure, but also wasn't far from some mountains that people visited during the winter because of the snow.

It was a really nice place, Alfred had to admit as he descended from the bus. There wasn't too much noise, everybody seemed to know everyone, there weren't many cars outside and people strolled around, seeming to have all the time of the world. Maybe he should come here more often...

Walking around, the blue eyed blond couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy. Sure he had lived in the outside of the city, near the forest and all, but he didn't like much the silence. Having lived three years on the noisy, party-all-night part of the city made him nervous of this quaint silence. It was almost like back in the forest, but this time he was still surrounded by civilisation.

He had almost reached the forest when he was seen. He hadn't expected that out of all the people who could have seen him, it had to be the only one who knew him. Vash Zwingli stood in front of him, in all his blond and trigger-happy glory.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, in his hands another gun that wasn't like the one Alfred had seen last time, but it definitely was questionable if he had permission to carry that. In any case, the other blond wasn't about to question him.

"I have some vacations, so I thought a bit of camping would be fun," he answered, shrugging his shoulders, hoping he didn't look suspicious. Eying the gun carefully, the blond had the feeling that Vash was the type of person that shot before asking questions. His encounter with Gilbert was proof enough of that.

Vash made a small noise that didn't seem like he accepted the explanation, but neither did the volatile blond refuse it. "You are here only for camping?"

"Yeah," Alfred was growing more nervous now. "What are you doing here?"

"I just checked the forest, in case the Hybrid hadn't actually left, but I found nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah," Vash moved his gun a little bit and Alfred tensed anew. The other blond didn't notice. "There's nothing there. It's almost as if it had never been there. It just seemed... to vanish."

Alfred worried a little bit. What if they had actually left, now that a hunter had found them? He hadn't thought about that possibility. Maybe his mission would prove itself useless, maybe the Rabbit Hybrid had already left the forest to find a safer place. Slightly worried, the blond decided to continue with the mission. Who knew, maybe they hadn't left yet and were hiding, waiting until the danger had passed.

Saying goodbye to Vash, Alfred moved on to the forest. Making his way carefully through the forest, he tried to retrace the path he had taken a few days before. The most logical place to wait for the Hybrids was nearby the river. They could only last for so long until they had to visit the river and when they did, he would be ready.

When he had finally reached the river it was already sunset. Finding himself a little place to set his tent, somewhere were he could keep an eye easily on the river and yet one couldn't see him Alfred sat down and waited. He may not look like the most patient of guys, but when he waited like this one would be surprised just how long he could stay put. Surrounded by the wildlife, Alfred felt slightly at peace, even if he was a little bit nervous.

Ever since he had met that Hybrid ten years ago, his family had moved to a place closer to the city. It had taken a long time before the dirty blond felt ready to go out on picnics and camping on any forest. And even if he felt much more comfortable, Alfred couldn't stay there for longer than two or three days before he started panicking. That didn't mean he didn't appreciate the wilderness, but rather he was extremely cautious with it.

For three days Alfred lived there without seeing anything. He would wake up and watch the river bank for any sign of a Hybrid, but all he saw was different animals that came to take a drink: wolfs, deers, squirrels were one of the few he saw, but never the one he wanted. He would (after a while) scout the area around the river, knowing that possibly the Hybrids lurked around.

He had almost given up hope when he finally caught sight of something interesting. He had just returned from one of his rounds when he saw some movement. He could have missed it, had he been a second too late, but he was sure of what he saw.

It wasn't his Rabbit Hybrid, but seemed more like the one Vash had described. Moving quickly as to not miss it, Alfred followed the Canine Hybrid. The male -for it was a male- moved quite fast and he almost lost him a few times. It was then that he realized that this one wasn't exactly like the one the rigger-happy blond had seen.

While their appearance was alike at first glance, the dirty blond was quick to notice the differences. While the one Vash had described had a curl that stood out to the left, the one Alfred was following had one to the right. What's more, while the hair was still dark brown, the eyes held a greenish tint that reminded the blond of his own Bunny Hybrid.

Alfred wasn't sure if following this Hybrid would take him to the one he wanted, but he decided to try. If worse came to worse, and the Bunny wasn't with them, then he had still found another Hybrid he could knock out and bring to the headquarters. In any case, this was the best shot to finding the Bunny.

The Hybrid he was following seemed around his age, maybe a little bit younger. He moved with confidence through the forest, obviously knowing his way around but he seemed easily scared, if his reaction to any noise was anything to go by. If he heard a branch moving, the Canine would instantly stop moving, looking around himself so quickly that Alfred thought he would hurt his neck seriously. Any sound would send him five feet in the air, and even if he tried to keep on a brave face, Alfred saw his hands shaking quite badly.

He didn't know for how long he had been following him (half an hour? one hour?) but the blond was starting to get impatient. Maybe he should simply attack the Hybrid already, so that he could return to the headquarters? After all, this one, as confident as he was on the path he had taken, didn't seem to go anywhere.

Just when this thoughts had been formulated in his head, the Hybrid walked through some high bushes and Alfred, once again, lost sight of him. Hurrying quickly, the blond peeked through the shrubbery in hopes of finding his prey.

He didn't expect to find more than that.

What he saw was one of the last things he expected to see. He saw the Hybrid he had being following earlier walk towards the Hybrid Vash had seen (that curl was a dead gave away) but also to an older one. This one seemed around his thirties, and his resemblance with the other two (who had to be twins, there was no other explanation) proved they were related in some way. He also had a wolf's tail and ears and dark brown hair, but his eyes had this golden tinge that reminded him of amber. Beside him was a blond that was older than him, by maybe three years. His hair reached his chin in slight waves, and he had deep blue eyes. He was quite handsome, and his foxy tail and ears only gave him a cunning appearance.

He had never expected to find so many Hybrids, especially if they weren't of the same species. They were all together, talking in soft tones that Alfred couldn't quite hear, but what proved the greatest shock was what came next.

His Bunny Hybrid also made his way towards them. Short and messy blond hair fell over his green eyes, but did little to hide those eyebrows. Now that he could see him clearly and up close, Alfred had to admit that those eyebrows were huge. He had never imagined that anybody could have such pair of eyebrows, but he had to admit that somehow, the little Bunny was able to pull it off. He was quite pale and lithe, and could be no older than thirteen, and even then he was quite small for his age.

The Fox Hybrid attempted pulling the other Hybrid flush against him, but with a strength that surprised him greatly, he was able to push the older man off him. He looked quite annoyed by this, and Alfred had the feeling that this wasn't the first time that happened. He had to admit that the Bunny looked quite funny with that scowl on his face.

Moving a little bit to be more comfortable, Alfred was unlucky enough to step on a tiny twig. The sound as it broke echoed through the forest and before he knew it the Hybrids had jumped into action.

He only had the time to notice that a fist was coming his was before he lost consciousness again. _Not again..._ were the only words he could think of before he surrendered to the darkness.

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There you go! Now the real action and romance can begin! I hope everybody liked the chapter, even if I didn't because I wanted to start the real action and this one was on the middle of things. For those who are wondering, I did make Iggy a thirteen year old kid. Those who confused him with Peter was probably because of the age, but I wanted Iggy to be younger than Alfred. First of all, because I wanted to try something different and second of all... I don't know... I just thought it would be cute. In any case, I won't update for a long time. Today in the evening I'm leaving to babysit some kids, so you can imagine that I probably won't have time to work on this story. So you will have to wait some time before the sixth chapter is up, but I will make sure it is worth it.

So... bye bye I suppose.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so... I'm back? I know I took an awfully long time to upload this but I got kind of lazy and there was this problem in the other computer in the house so everybody in the family had to use this one so you can imagine how long it took me to move my behind. I know it's not a great excuse, but I have nothing else under my sleeve. So forgive me please? And so not to keep you waiting, one with the new chapter!

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Captive

He woke up thanks to a bucket of water on his face. Not one of the greatest ways to wake up, especially if that was followed by a hand over his mouth, stopping him from making any noise. Alfred couldn't really remember where he had woken up, but it surely wasn't on his room. After all, on his room he didn't have any trees to be tied up to and Matthew had never dared to wake him up in that way.

Breathing deeply, the dirty blond tried to remember where he was, or at least what had happened before he was out cold. He had gone into the forest in hopes of finding the Bunny Hybrid and had waited three days, until finally he caught sight of a Hybrid. Not the one he wanted but he followed him anyways, leading him to other Hybrids, one of which was his little Bunny. After that things got kind of blurry, but he believed he had been found and knocked out. He hoped that Gilbert would never know what had happened.

Blinking, Alfred tried to see the person who had woken him up. Everything was kind of blurry, and he could hardly distinguish anything in front of him. _They took my glasses_, he realized with stupor. Because of that, he couldn't see what was happening around him and that made him nervous. If he had been able to see, he could have assessed the situation easily and found an escape route. But now he couldn't and he was on the mercy of his captors.

"Good, you are awake now," whoever had woken him up said. Since he couldn't see very well, he had to count on his other senses to move around. The voice was quite soft but male, belonging to somebody quite young.

"Uhm, yeah." Alfred hesitated before continuing, but in the end decided to give it a shot. "Can I have my glasses back? I can't see right now."

"Your glasses?" While the blond couldn't see, he was ready to bet by the tone of the voice that whoever had woken him up had his head cocked to the side. "Oh! Wait here then."

He could hear the person leaving, but he could hardly listen to the footsteps. The person had to be light then or maybe simply cautious with how he walked.

He had waited for at most five minutes, but he was already getting impatient, before the person came back. His personalized wake up alarm stopped right in front of him, hesitated for some brief moments before moving. "Here," he mumbled, placing the glasses on Alfred's face, since the other couldn't move his arms.

When he could finally see, imagine his surprise when the person turned out to be no other then the little Bunny Hybrid from the last time. Corn blond hair as messy as ever, one of his ears turned towards Alfred while the other one rotated to listen whatever was behind him, the young Hybrid observed him with those penetrating green eyes.

"Why are you here?" the older blond asked softly, studying his visitor further. He wore a simple green tunic over him that reached to his knees and he was quite pale, but not in an unhealthy way. He looked frail and weak, but his eyes proved that he determinated and stubborn, somebody not easily broken.

"I was curious," the other had answered with a shrug. Alfred had to bite his lower lip to hide the smile forming. From what he remembered from the manual, it clearly stated that Bunny Hybrids were extremely curious creatures.

Maybe he should have paid closer attention to the manual Hans had given them the first day they started working under him. He had advised them to read it for it could be useful later on but neither Alfred nor Gilbert paid it any mind. They had read it swiftly to appease a raging Ludwig but hadn't gone any further and the German had already guessed he should consider himself lucky they had done anything at all. The manual was quite thick and held eveything humans knew about Hybrids. Most of the information they had came from the studies humans had done about animals over the centuries, since Hybrids seemed to have certain characteristics of the animal their DNA held. Thanks to that they were able to define the strengths and weaknesses of certain Hybrids which made it easier to capture them. It also talked about what scientists had been able to discover thanks to the Hybrids held in captivity for study purposes. Placed in more or less natural areas, they were able to study the habits and attitudes of Hybrids in certain situations.

Alfred didn't know what to do in this one. Should he fight his way out of here? It was worth a shot, since the only one who seemed present was the Bunny. He didn't know for sure how long he had been asleep, but it could be no more than a few hours, from what he could tell of the position of the sun. He supposed it was around late afternoon. Alfred looked more closely, searching for any Hybrid that could have hidden itself, but was quite surprised to see that nobody else was in sight. Surely they wouldn't have left the Bunny all alone with the captive? "Where are the others?"

"The other Hybrids?" the little Bunny looked at him for a while before he answered again. "Well, Adolf is sleeping right now, and he won't wake up until late at night. Lovino is sleeping through his afternoon _siesta_ along with Feliciano somewhere and Francis is out hunting I think." The blond bunny kept on looking at him, hands crossed in front of him.

"You mean you are all alone?"

"Yeah. Normally that doesn't happen, because I'm the youngest of the pack and Adolf says I have to be watched at all times." The bunny's nose wrinkled as he said this. Obviously the fact that he was the baby in the family didn't please him. "I was waiting until everyone was away to wake you up."

"Now that you mention it, why did you wake me up?" Alfred asked. He was quite confident that if there was one thing everybody had told the younger blond was to stay as far away from him as possible and not wake him up.

"I was curious. I have never seen a real human up close. Normally the ones who see them are Francis and Adolf, and that's only when the hunters are after us and we have to face them or when we need some serious help. Feliciano also sees them from time to time, but only when he's hungry or there are pretty girls around. Except this one time, were he made friends with some human when he was younger but I don't know what happened after that. Lovino says he will never approach a 'disgusting' human but Feliciano once mentioned that he had been saved by one before we had to move." The Bunny didn't seem bothered on recounting Alfred about his family's history. In fact he seemed too easy-going and confident for a Bunny. From what Alfred dimly remembered from the manual, Rabbit Hybrids were usually very nervous and skittish, running at the first sign of danger. This one didn't seem scared and there was this spark in his eyes that could be nothing else but curiosity. "My name is Arthur by the way."

"Right," Alfred supposed that the only right thing to do was to present himself. Maybe if he gained the Rabbit's trust completely he could gain his freedom. "I'm Alfred F. Jones."

"Why are you here anyways? Hunters weren't supposed to come back until after a week which is when we are planning on leaving."

"Why are you telling me this?" Alfred couldn't believe that the little Bunny was practically telling him its whole life. Didn't its parents teach him not to talk to strangers? You just don't go around and tell everybody you meet the story of your life!

"Well..." Arthur placed his index finger against his lips, head tilted back deep in thought. Somewhere in the corners of his mind Alfred had to admit that Arthur looked utterly cute doing that. "Everybody says I'm a good judge of character and you don't scare me. I feel I can count on you. After all, you didn't tell anyone that you had seen me on the river, because if you had done so the forest would have been swarming with hunters by now. And I'm pretty sure you weren't out cold most of the time since Francis couldn't have hit you that hard."

"Francis?"

"He was the one who caught you sneaking on me. He says that you put up a fight but I don't believe him. Neither does Lovino and Adolf because we all know that Francis is more like the kind that avoids physical confrontation and attacks you from behind. I'm not mentioning Feliciano because he believes everything you tell him. He once believed that the sky was pink and the grass blue simply because Francis _corrected _him."

"Seriously?" That kind of reminded Alfred about Antonio, even if the Spaniard was a lot less gullible and just more... oblivous. "How can he believe that?"

Arthur simply shrugged his shoulders. "He's simply _that_ trusting. I feel sorry for Lovino because he is the one who has to babysit Feliciano when Adolf isn't around."

"So who's the one tha-" He was going to ask who was the one that babysitted the Bunny had said Hybrid not covered his mouth with its hands.

"Shhhhhh," Arthur's ears had both done a 180° turn listening to something Alfred couldn't hear. A few seconds had passed before the older blond noticed how stiff the Rabbit Hybrid was against him. He noticed one of the ears twitching before Arthur's eyes grew on size. Those green orbs seemed to panic and before he could understand what was happening, the younger Hybrid had turned around and leaned against him. _This is slightly uncomfortable,_ Alfred thought, feeling the heat from Arthur's body against his. He tried to move a little bit, searching for a more comfortable position, but he had no luck. One can't say that you had many positions to be comfortable while tied up to a tree..

"_Mon lapin, qu'est ce que tu fais?_" Alfred hadn't noticed the newcomer, but Arthur had clearly been expecting him, if his tiny growl was of any indication. Looking up, Alfred observed the Fox Hybrid he had seen before he had been knocked out. His blond hair was quite long, the blue eyed American noticed, tied up behind him in a ponytail, but shorter from up front. Those blue eyes were a few shades lighter than his own, reminding of the sky in a summer afternoon and held a spark of mischief that remided him a little bit of Gilbert, only his were more playfull than the Hybrid's. The tail and ears were dark orange, to the point that under certain light the colour seemed to change to red or brown, the tips black. All in all, the image he portrayed was elegant, even with the stubble on his chin and his dirty clothes.

"_Francis_," from the way Arthur said the name, one had to be like Antonio not to understand the contempt behind the voice. Sadly enough, Alfred was one of those people.

_I wonder if they are close_, was what passed through his head before things registered on his mind. "Hey! You are the one who attacked me from behind!"

"_En effet, oui_," and the French bastard (he was pretty sure he was French, because those weird sounds he made reminded him greatly about Mattie, who talked French fluently) had the mockery to bow in front of Alfred. "But zat is not ze question. _Mon lapin_ what are you doing here? Didn't we tell you to stay away from ze 'unter?" As he said this he approached the other Hybrid, who looked quite tense.

"Shut up! I can be wherever I want to be!" Arthur looked as he was going through a panick attack. His breathing had accelerated; his whole body was trembling, ready to bolt at first notice; his eyes darted around, searching for an escape route and the accent that had been barely there grew stronger. Alfred hadn't paid it any mind, but now that it was clearly there he recognized it as British. So the little Bunny came from England?

"Now _Arthur_," Francis didn't seem to mind the younger blond's reaction, "you know zat zis is only for your own good, we are just looking after you _mon cheri_. Go play with Lovino and Feliciano, I'm sure zeir _sieste_ is finished."

"I don't want to!" Arthur crossed his arms and pouted.

"Arthur, I'm serious. Go and play right now or..."

"That will be enough Francis. I can take care of this." a voice said from behind them. Looking up, they all were surprised to see the man that Alfred had seen before, and who he was quite sure was the leader of this little and... one of a kind family. Tall and imposing, he wasn't the type of man Alfred would have liked to face one-on-one in a fist fight. Even if he was a hero and heroes never loose, he didn't think that man was easy to handle. As he walked, one could feel the strength and power he emanated, even if he seemed relaxed, his tail moving from side to side in a leisure pace, Alfred believed that man was rarely unaware of his surroundings. With a simple gesture of his hands, Francis and Arthur moved to let him pass, the respect and trust in their eyes reminding Alfred of his own feelings towards Hans.

The man stopped right in front of him, practically towering over him (which was quite a feat, because few were those who were able to do that). His amber eyes watched him, giving the American the impression of being dissected on a lab table. Nobody said anything for a while, the only sounds coming from the forest around them and their own, soft breathing. The SA agent was starting to grow impatient and restless, so he opened his mouth to speak, but the tall man sensed it before he did.

"I believe I know why you are here," his voice was deep and with a husky quality on it. "What intrigues me is why you are here all alone. Do not bother telling me otherwise. Had you come with somebody they would have already sent a researching squad after us. What's more you don't carry your bracelet, which is something I believe that every Specialized Agent is supposed to have with them at all times. So I'm going to ask you the question only once: why did you come here alone?"

"Why should I tell you?" It wasn't in Alfred's nature to bow down to anybody's orders unless he wanted to. That was something Hans had painfully realized when he had sent his team to a neighboring city and placed them on the hands of a quite pompous General. He had thought that working with different types of people was something everybody should be capable of doing, but he didn't believe it when the whole team had to return two days later, after Alfred had refused to follow direct orders and _fired_ along with Gilbert the General and his guards in his own house. Things hadn't been pretty for Hans after that, with the paperwork and the probation that had followed.

For his part, the man watched him for a few seconds before turning towards Francis and Arthur, who had stayed still until now. "Leave us." His voice left no room for arguments, and Francis was quick to obey. Arthur hesitated for a second or two before opening his mouth, surely in an attempt to change his leader's mind, but was effectively refuted by an amber eyed glare.

Slowly, the Bunny Hybrid followed Francis, looking back from time to time, bitting his bottom lip in worry. His eyes met those of Alfred for a second, letting him see the concern that was written in them. Alfred had never expected to see a Hybrid worry about a human, so he didn't know what to feel. On one side he was sort of glad to see that somebody worried about him, which was only natural since he was the hero, but on the other side he knew that such feelings had to be eliminated, for creating any sort of relationship with a Hybrid would be a stupid move from his part. His job was to destroy the whole race for God's sake! He just couldn't go around and start making friends with them.

"I'm Adolf," the man said once the other Hybrids were out of sight. He was watching him carefully, one could even say warily.

"I'm Alfred," he said as he glared. He tried to look intimidating, but he wasn't sure it worked out. Tied up to a tree and being towered by the person facing him just didn't help matters. But that didn't matter, for he was the hero!

"Why are you here alone Alfred?"

He had to grudgingly admit that this Adolf person was the type that one just felt compelled to follow and obey. That arua of power and respect he held reminded him a lot about Hans, but he wasn't Hans, so he wasn't about to obey him.

"Why should I tell you?" he repeated.

"I don't think I have to remind you that you are in a quite... vulnerable position. I could very easily kill you if you don't want to cooperate." As he said this Adolf started studying his claws, in a movement that looked too natural for it to be so. Even then, Alfred couldn't help noticing just how sharp they were. He remembered dimly something about Hybrid's claws. From what he had heard, those claws were capable of mass destruction, some being able to cut through stone as easily as a knife through melted butter. He didn't want to know just what this set was able to do.

"If you killed me, you would never have your answer and you can be sure that SA squads will be all around the place searching for me."

"Indeed. On the other hand, if I dispose myself of you, then the problem would be solved don't you think? and those squads you are talking about wouldn't arrive on time. We would be long gone by then."

"Why are you letting me live then? You just said that killing me would solve matters, so why haven't you?"

At this, Adolf raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to be killed? Because I can do it for you if you wish."

"No!" Alfred shouted, instantly regreting it. Why couldn't he keep his emotions under control, like Hans and Ludwig told him to? Showing emotions placed his captors on an advantage, since from there they were able to push your bottons until you cracked. "I just don't understand! Why are you keeping me alive? Why do you care if I came here alone?"

"The reasons are my own. If you really want to know, you are still alive because Arthur stopped us from disposing of you. For your other question... well, I suppose it couldn't hurt if I told you. What worries me is that you came alone to spy on us. A full research team wouldn't be as effective, for that's four times the noise and smell one single human being so we would be able to sense you easily. But one person... one trained agent could go right below our noses and could even infiltrate our pack. You already saw it with Arthur. He's young and has yet to fully understand the danger you represent. So why did you come here alone? Did your boss send you here?"

"I came here by my own free will. How do you even know I'm a SA agent?"

Adolf's eyebrow rose again. "You came here carrying a scouter, a few standard weapons and a net. Did you actually think we wouldn't check your camp site? What's more, you never denied making part of the SA and being a hunter, so from my point of view, you are from the SA. Am I wrong?"

"Whatever," Alfred muttered, struggling a little bit against the ropes. "If you have to know, nobody knows I came here okay? I was supposed to be on leave for a whole week after that nasty hit I received on the head. My boss thinks I'm home, while my brother thinks I'm in the borders."

"But why did you come? What reason did you have to come?"

"I was hoping I would find the Bunny Hybrid, Arthur, to take him with me." Alfred decided that telling the truth was the best option at this point. God knew that the Wolf Hybrid would simply detect his lies.

"Alone?" Adolf didn't seem to believe him. "Even if you have been able to modify your DNA and push your physical abilities to their limits, you have to be aware that you couldn't handle one Hybrid alone. It takes at least four to catch one, and even then it's arduous work."

Now it was Alfred's turn to raise an eyebrow. "It's only a Rabbit Hybrid. They can't be that hard to catch."

The older man smiled a sardonic smirk. "That's what you think. In any case, your presence here is dangerous for us. In any normal situation, I would have dealt with you but due to special reasons, you will stay here for the rest of the week. After that, we will let you go, for by the time you are able to contact the SA we will be long gone."

"You think you can untie me? Because it's kind of uncomfortable and it's getting dark and..." Alfred thanked the lab back home for his glasses with night vision. Now, instead of the usual black and green one saw with the night vision one could make out some colors. He didn't understand exactly how that worked, since he hadn't really listened when the lab crew had tried to explain things to him but thanks to this he could see in the dark. The colors weren't accurate, instead they were darker but at least he could tell the difference between green and red.

"I don't think so. I'm afraid that if I untie you you will try to get away and we can't have that, can we? But don't worry. I will stay up the whole night watching over you, so you can sleep safely."

All Alfred could do then was glare at him as the night fell around them.

_

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_

**Translations:**

_Mon lapin qu'est ce que tu fais?-_ My bunny what are you doing?

_En effet oui- _Yes indeed

_Mon cheri-_ My dear

I want to thank everybody who has reviewed, added me on their list or just plain read this. Especial thanks go to Hippie Vampire, because she finds time to read my stories and help me out with errors here and there. I send you thousand of virtual hugs and kisses!


	7. Chapter 7

Hi? I'm still alive as you can see and kicking! Or whatever, I can't remember the exact saying. So here is the latest chapter of Hybrid and I hope you like it. I have many reasons for not updating sooner, since I'm on my last year of high school and all, but I'll try to update faster. I think I'm getting a hold over this, and probably I will be able to update sooner since I have found some free time... But I rather not keep you waiting so here you go!

P.S.- Thanks for everything (reviews, alerts and all of that) because I appreciate it. Especial thanks to Hippie Vampire... she's one cool girl she is! Love you!

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Hunting Time

This time, when Alfred woke up, it wasn't because of a bucket full of water, but thanks to the sun that was hitting him in the face. His back hurt like hell, absolutely not liking being against the tree's bark for hours non stop. His feet hurt too, and he could hardly feel his arms. His neck was the most painfull of all, having being in a bad position for the whole night. He had tried to stay awake, but after a few hours he was starting to feel drowsy, and the small lullaby Adolf hummed the whole time hadn't helped him.

He didn't see the Wolf Hybrid anywhere, so he supposed that he had left already, maybe to sleep, maybe to take care of more important things. In any case, he didn't care, but he was suddendly aware of how hungry he was when his stomach practically yelled for his attention. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, and his stomach was reminding him of that fact.

What would he give to have a hamburger right now. A big, juicy hamburger with fries and soda on the side. With a sundae and ice cream after that. God, he was _drooling_ as he thought of that. Or maybe not necessarily a hamburger, a pizza would be enough. Or a steak, or some take out. He would even eat those nasty vegetables Ludwig and Mattie made him eat every day. He just wanted something!

As if answering his prayers, the smell of cooked food reached his nose. He didn't know what it was exactly -eggs maybe?- but the smell had him drooling again. When were they planning on feeding the prisoner? He hoped it would be soon, because he could hardly stand it. This was practically torture!

Footsteps then reached his ears. Soft and quick, they made their way towards him and the smell of food grew stronger. Raising his head, eager, he watched the Bunny walking towards him. In his hands, was a platter of food, in which he could just make out eggs and some... bacon?

"Breakfast," the Hybrid then said stopping right in front of him. That plate was just an arm's length away. If only he could untie himself he would reach for it and...

"You are drooling. Are you aware of that? Please stop, because it's disguting." Looking up from the food, Alfred watched the Rabbit wrinkle his nose in a disgusted (cute!) way. "Adolf told me not to free you, so I will have to feed you until Francis is done."

"Feed me? And what does Francis have anything to do with this?"

"Yeah, feed you. As in, I grab the fork and force it through your mouth, like with babies. As for Francis... you can't be freed from that tree unless he's around to supervise in case you try to do something stupid like running away." That being said, Arthur took out a fork and offered some food to Alfred. "Hungry?"

"You don't have to ask." The older blond opened his mouth, ignoring the slight feeling of embarrassment that came with the action. Sure, being mouth fed by a kid three years younger than him wasn't exactly how he had envisioned this mission would go, especially if the one he was supposed to catch was the one feeding him but he couldn't really start whining. As long as nobody else ever learnt about this he could live with it. And he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Because this was one of the best breakfasts he had ever eaten, almost as good as the ones in McDonald's. He nearly moaned of pleasure at the taste and it was only some scrambled eggs with bacon. "This is delicious! Who cooked this?" He just had to ask, because he could hardly believe that some Hybrids could do something _this_ good.

"Francis," was the answer that Arthur gave. "He loves cooking and that sort of thing, so we normally let him take care of things. Right now he's trying to placate Lovino since we are out of tomatoes and to convince Feliciano that having pasta for breakfast isn't healthy. He shouldn't take long."

Alfred made a soft noise to show that he had listened but he was paying more attention to the food. The feelings of embarrassment that had been earlier had disappeared without a trace. This tasted like a piece of heaven! For that reason probably, the SA agent didn't pay much attention on his companion until there was no more food, which was when he noticed the look of disgust present in Arthur's face as those emerald eyes watched the empty plate. "Something wrong?" he couldn't help but ask, because as a hero he was meant to help others, even if that person was his enemy.

"How can you eat that?" Arthur asked, nose crinkled as if he had just smelt something awful.

"What are you talking about? It's just eggs and bacon, no biggie." Alfred blinked a few times, unable to understand what the problem was. He was sure it wasn't his eating habits, even if Mattie joked quite a few times about that. He sure as not ate like a pig! And he wasn't as fat as one either! Mattie was just jealous of him!

Instead of answering, all the younger one did was keep looking at the plate with so much contempt that Alfred internally wondered why it hadn't just combusted. "I believe I can answer zat," said a new voice behind them in a distintive accent. Sure enough, when the SA agent raised his head he saw the Fox Hybrid from yesterday making his way to him. "Arthur 'ere is a vegetarian. Being a Bunny Hybrid means he 'as gained some of their eating habits."

"You mean he doesn't like meat?" the other blue-eyed blond asked. In his mind, one simply couldn't live without meat. That was just impossible. How could somebody resist to that tempting, juicy...

"It's disgusting." Arthur muttered as he turned around and walked away.

"Where is he going?" Alfred asked the Fox Hybrid, whom was undoing the ropes that tied him to the tree.

"It's 'is turn to wash ze dishes," Francis took a step back as the ropes fell. Alfred tried to move, but obviously after staying a good part of the afternoon and the whole night his legs wanted nothing more than to sleep. "Careful," the elder blond helped him stay standing, holding him by his chest.

"Uh, thanks?" Alfred wondered if this was the normal attitude of a Hybrid. Weren't they supposed to be violent, dangerous, heartless and well... savages? Because he didn't think that the everyday wild creature would actually help you and feed you. There had to be a catch somewhere. "Why are you helping- ME!" That definitely wasn't a hand feeling him up! No it wasn't!

"Leave him alone you stupid frog," a sullen voice ordered. Looking up (and thankfully feeling the hand leaving his behind) Alfred saw the Canine Hybrid he had followed yesterday. He seemed around his age, arms crossed in front of him and a glare in his eyes. He was watching Francis's every move, waiting for something to happen.

"_Lovino, mon petit chiot! Tu m'as tellement manqué!_" The blond shouted, arms wide open and jumping to hug the younger one (and probably to slide a grope in between). The other kid simply side stepped him, his glare turning darker. "But you shouldn't call me Frog; after all I'm a fox."

"Shut up idiot. You may be a fox, but you eat frogs, so that makes you a frog." The Canine Hybrid kept glaring at him, eyes promising death (or at least something very painfull). "Now get up. You have a prisioner to take care of."

"You wound me _mon amour_," Francis stood up, hand over his heart to show his 'pain'. "'Ow can you be so cruel?"

"Fuck off and do your job," was the short straight to the point answer. Turning around, the boy named Lovino changed the target of his glare. "Don't you even _think_ of running away if you know what is good for you."

Alfred tried to tower over the other one and return him with a glare of him own, but his legs refused to take his weight, and he had to lean against the tree. His glare, however was as potent as ever so he was quite sure he was awesome anyways. After all, he was simply that, awesome.

God, was he sounding like Gilbert?

While the SA agent tried to overcome the horror he had just realized, the two Hybrids continued talking in low voices.

"You will take care of him won't you?" Lovino asked the other.

"You know I will keep an eye on 'im the whole time. Ze question is who is going to keep an eye on Arthur?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want zem together at all. Arthur is too _curieux_ for 'is own good. You know 'e will attach 'imself to ze idiot." Ignoring the murmur from the brunet that sounded suspiciously like '_Takes one to know one'_ the blond kept talking. "Arthur is too _gentil_ and you know it. He's going to end up 'urting."

"What else do you propose then? You know I can't keep an eye in both of them." Lovino was growing annoyed.

"You zink it would be wise to let 'im come with us?"

"What are you two talking about?" the little bunny asked. His hands were on his hips, looking to the other two carefully. Behind him was Lovino's twin, smiling his usual doopey grin, big enough to cover half his face.

"We were wandering with 'om you would be staying. After all, it could be _dangereux_ if you came with us."

"What do you mean? I want to come with you!" Arthur said loudly, stamping his foot on the floor, arms now crossed. A purely adorable pout was on his face.

"_Crois-moi_, I wouldn't mind if you came with me." A positively pervert face marred his features, confusing both Feliciano and Arthur.

"What do you mean big brother Francis?" asked the sweeter twin, head cocked to the side. Arthur was simply blinking, not understanding a thing.

But Lovino did.

"_Pervertito_! _Ma che pensi? È solo un bambino! Come puoi dire queste cose?_" Lovino kept on shouting in Italian. His twin had to hold him back before he tried to kill the Frenchman. "_Lasciami! Questo stronzo devi morire!_"

"_Fratello! Che fai?_" Feliciano tried to calm down his brother, under the amused gaze of the Fox Hybrid and the confused one not only from Arthur, but also Alfred, who had noticed Lovino's attempts to kill the other one, but didn't understand the cause.

_What did I miss?_

The thought of taking advantage of the situation passed through his mind but before he could react Francis had turned towards him. "Well, _monsieur l'agent_, apparently you, me and Arthur are going to 'ave some alone time." The smile that crossed his face didn't calm down Alfred. It looked too lecherous to be safe.

Lovino just shouted harder.

* * *

When a raging Italian had been more or less calmed down (the promise of tomatoes later in the evening did the trick) our little group of three were silently walking through the forest. Well, two out of three were.

"Can't you be more careful? You are going to scare ze animals." Francis hissed, for once his easy-going (pervert) smile gone from his face. In its place was the serious, concentrated look of a hunter searching for his prey.

"Well _sorry_," was the childish answer. "Not everybody has an abnormal hearing like you two do." He added a few insults for good mesure in a low voice.

"You are aware that we can hear you right?" Arthur asked. He was walking beside the American, hands on either side of his body and ears moving on top of his head, trying to hear something. He didn't especially like hunting, rather he hated it. It wasn't in his nature to kill, but he usually had to follow Francis when they were out of food, because he couldn't be left alone.

Which was stupid, because he wasn't a baby anymore.

"Whatever," muttered the SA agent, pouting. He could hardly believe that they were able to listen to him so easily. He was the best in what he did. And maybe he had failed the Infiltration and Discretion class, but that class was stupid. Why would they try to be silent and befriend Hybrids, if in the end they were just trying to get rid of them? They could simply attack them as soon as they turned their backs, quickly and efficiently, like Hans always said.

He didn't ask himself why he wasn't doing that right now.

"What are we looking for again?" He asked, breaking the relative silence that had fallen through the forest.

"Food," was Francis's answer.

"I _know_ that, but what exactly is food for you?" Sure they had done a delicious scrambled egg that morning, but that didn't mean they ate like he did. It just wouldn't fit the whole 'unrefined and murderous savage' image.

"Cooked meat?" was Francis's perplexed answer.

"Fresh vegtables and fruits?" was Arthur's.

"You mean that you _actually_ eat like us?" the disbelief in Alfred's voice was palpable.

"Well yeah," Arthur's impressive eyebrow rose. "What did you expect? Insects?"

Alfred could feel himself blush. He didn't want to admit that it was something along those lines that he was thinking.

Francis seemed to read his mind. "You do realize zat even if we are _des Hybrides_ we are quite 'uman? We need to eat and sleep, ze only difference is zat we 'ave to adapt to our animal's 'abits. Nocturnal Hybrids stay awake during ze night, and are asleep during the day. Arthur 'ere is an _hebivore_, so 'e eats mostly vegetables and fruits, but he 'as to eat occasionally meat for his 'uman body."

Alfred just made a small sound, thinking about it. It did make sense when one reflected about it, that you had to adapt to the parts that made who you are. So he supposed he could understand, even believe in them, at least in this aspect. They were still dangerous from his point of view.

They had been walking for a little bit more than an hour. While Alfred was tempted to whine about not finding anything, he didn't dare to. Arthur was three years younger than him and he wasn't whining. In fact, he seemed to be almost skipping in joy. The basket that the younger teenager had picked up before they had left was half-full with different types of berries and other wild fruits they could find. Alfred had tried to take some of them without the Bunny Hybrid noticing but that hadn't worked well. Everytime his hand had almost reached the basket it was slapped away. Violently.

"Ow! Would you stop that?"

"Stop what? YOU are the one that's trying to steal the food!"

"_Silence mes petits_," Francis then ordered both ears turned towards the same direction, listening to something Alfred couldn't hear, but Arthur could.

"We found some deers." Arthur explained just as Francis sneaked his ways towards the unsuspecting troop of deers.

The other two followed, walking as silently as one could with leaves in the floor. When they reached Francis, the Fox Hybrid was hidden behind a bush, watching the animals closely. "The one to the left looks good enough. All alone, no apparent child or anything like zat and 'urt."

"You mean the one that is away from the group?" Arthur murmured softly.

"_Oui_," Francis nodded softly. "Looks big enough don't you zink?"

"I think it would do." The younger one nodded his head, and turned towards Alfred. "We have to stay here and wait. Francis will go ahead and catch the deer. If we go, we will be too many and we could get caught."

"What?" Alfred was outraged. "Why would we have to wait for him to come? And why is he going after that one? It looks weak. He should go for the other one. The one who looks fat enough for three."

"Are you joking? That one is pregnant! And look! She's in the middle, surrounded by everyone, we wouldn't be able to catch her!"

"Leave that to me," the dirty blond smirked. "I will have her in no time at all."

"Wait!" the younger one tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Alfred was quite confident on his hunting skills. In the Specialized Army training program, each candidate had to go through a whole month living in the wild. Sure, the place was monitored constantly, in case any of them got hurt, but each trainee was left to his or her own devices. They had to be able to create their own 'houses' out of anything they could find, learn what was safe to eat and what wasn't, but over all, they had to learn how to hunt. When in the wild, each trainee had the barest of essentials, which were some rope, a knife and a list of instructions. The list was extremely helpful, since it explained each and everyone of the steps one had to do to survive. How to get water and purify it, how to make a fire small enough to be unnoticeable and manageable, but still big enough to warm one considerably well. Alfred had been one of the students who had gotten the highest marks, since had had been able to live without help for a whole month and had been a considerably good hunter. Many said he was a natural, and there was even a joke around saying that Alfred wasn't really a human, but a Hybrid in disguise. Nobody took those rumours seriously, since nobody believed that Hybrids could ever be that smart.

The thing was, Alfred forgot a tiny, little, essential detail. He didn't have a weapon with him.

While being left alone in a wild with only a knife as protection, the reason many had been able to pass the test was because they had used their intellect. They had created their own arms, like thousands of millennia ago their ancestors had done, and with them they had been able to hunt and perfect their skills. They wouldn't have been able to survive otherwise, like the few who hadn't thought about that had proven.

In other words, as talented as Alfred was, he couldn't do anything if he had nothing to use to disable his prey. That could have costed him his life.

When Alfred had approached undetected by the herd, his hand had automatically gone for his gun. Realizing he had nothing to catch the animal but his two hands, the dirty blond decided to go for it. In his mind, as long as he wasn't detected nothing could go wrong, since he was stronger than the average human, thanks to the DNA changes that he had to go through to become a full-fledged Specialized Agent. He believed he could have easily caught her and disabled her before the doe realized what was happening and attacked back.

He hadn't counted on the buck though.

His plan had gone flawlessly up until that point. When had tackled down the doe, most of the herd had already dispersed, frightened by the predator none of them had expected. Alfred's full attention was on the doe he held, trying and failing to get her under control, so he didn't see her mate. What Alfred didn't know was that this was that time of the year, when deers joined and mated and he had no way in knowing that around this time of the year males were especially protective of their chosen one, especially if they considered the other one a possible rival.

Especially if they were white-tailed deers.

Alfred only had time to hear Arthur's shout before he felt a lacerating pain in his side. He had no time to defend himself before he was pushed aside, bitting his lip to stop himself from crying out. He believed he heard the little Bunny Hybrid again, but he wasn't completely sure. All he could feel was the pain. He placed his arm around his right side, feeling the blood that was seepign through his clothes. He tried pressing his wound; no matter how much it hurt, attempting to stop the blood flow. He was taking fast, shallow breaths, painfully realizing that he couldn't take deeps breaths.

"'ey, can you 'ear me?" The answer was a groan. "You are quite lucky, _mon cher_. Ze deer wasn't able to do any... serious damage." The SA agent felt hands pressing over his wounds, helping him to stop the flow. "Arthur, bring ze bandages and some water, he's loosing a lot of blood." His shirt was taken off as the Fox Hybrid inspected the wounds. "Zat is definitely going to scar."

Very soon Arthur came back, carring everything Francis had asked him to. The water was in a small bucket they always brought along, in case something went wrong during the hunt, like now. He handed over the water and a towel, which they were going to use to clean the wound. Anything else, like creams and others to desinfect the wounds were back at the camp, since they had a higher than normal immune system and many wounds only need a little bit of water and bandages. In cases like this one, the one who hadn't been hunting left in search of help. In this case, Francis was the one to leave, knowing that Alfred had little chance on escaping.

"You are an idiot, did you know that?" the Bunny started the conversation, hardly paying attention to the moan that answered him. The dirty blonde's head was in his lap, and the younger one absent mindedly played with his hair and his cowlick. "How could you just go, unarmed, after a _pregnant_ doe, surrounded by the rest of her herd? Don't you know that deers are especially protective at this time of the year? If all the other SA agents are as stupid as you are I wonder how you have been able to survive for so long..."

Alfred couldn't answer for two reasons. If he even dared to open his mouth he knew that he would only be able to sprout incoherent gibberish, something that would totally kill his whole 'badass' image (not that his actions hadn't already taken care of that). But deep inside himself the American knew that he had pulled a pretty stupid stunt there. If Hans had been present he didn't even want to imagine in how much pain he would be, considering that he would have probably punched his head in hopes of "getting rid of the stupidity that belongs only to you Agent Jones" not even thinking about the rest of his injuries.

Opening his eyes slightly, the young man looked upwards. The sight that met him wasn't one he expected. The little Bunny Hybrid's head was directly over him, looking down towards him. Their eyes met, blue clashing with green and the older one found that he couldn't look away. The forest green orbs were drowning in tears, crystal clear drops falling down each of his cheeks. He felt one of them fall on his own cheek and he blinked. The pain was hardly registering in his mind, his brain seemingly dead for the time being.

He hardly noticed the others arriving. Nor his body being taken away, he could hear everybody around him, one voice giving out orders but he didn't _listen_ to the words being said.

All he could do was repeat the image in his head. A young boy, just recently arriving puberty, crying over somebody he had just met. He had, for a second, forgotten that he had a Hybrid in front of him, and for that second he had actually believed that he was seeing a normal child crying.

He never knew that Hybrids could cry.

**_

* * *

_**

Okay so.. Translations!:

**_Lovino, mon petit chiot! Tu m'as tellement manqué!_**_- _Lovino, my little puppy! I've missed you so much!**_  
_**

**_gentil_**- Okay, so here it's not 'gentle' as one may believe, but rather is 'nice'. In French, to say 'gentle' you would rather use '_doux'_ which also means 'soft', so kind of the same thing...

_**Crois-moi**-_ Believe me

**_Pervertito_! **_**Ma che pensi? È solo un bambino! Come puoi dire queste cose?**-_ Pervert! What are you thinking! He's only a child! How can you say such things?

_**Lasciami! Questo stronzo devi morire!**-_ Let me go! This bastard has to die!

_**Fratello! Che fai?**-_ Brother! What are you doing?

_**monsieur l'agent**-_ Usually is for when you are talking with somebody from the police, but Francis here is saying literally 'Mr. Agent' so you can take it both ways...

_**Silence mes petit**s- _Silence my little ones

Read and review if you want, or if you have anything that I may have missed or should work on (constructive criticism!) or whatever. I'm going to bed anyways, because it's one in the morning over here and I would like some sleep, so see you next time!

Love, Jime-chan!


	8. Chapter 8

Okay so, I'm sorry for waiting so long and normally I would talk more but I have to go to school right now so... Big thanks to everyone who reviewed and placed me on their lists and all... Big big big thanks to Hippie Vampire for checking everything for me!

* * *

Last days together...

The tent in which he woke up was bright red. He could easily tell that morning had arrived and he could listen to the Hybrids moving outside. From time to time he heard what they were saying, but mostly everything was silent. Were they trying to keep it silent, as to not wake him up? In any case, he had been awake for some time now, but he couldn't move at all. Every move he made was painful, especially breathing. He had checked out his wounds to assess the damage, not that he could assess much, since his chest was mostly covered by bandages. That buck had certainly done a number on him.

Blinking, Alfred continued on watching the roof of the tent. Things were quite blurry, considering that they had taken of his glasses so that he could sleep comfortably. The dirty blond snorted. They sure as hell didn't have to worry on him running away this time, since he didn't think he could get up let alone run.

Closing his eyes he took deep breaths, instantly regretting the move. Shit, that hurt. Groaning softly, as to not hurt himself further, Alfred waited patiently for somebody to come around. He was hungry and he felt he was dying a slow, painful death. When was the pain going to stop?

He heard the tent open and he instinctively rose to see who had visited. That was a stupid move on his part he realized, letting himself flop back down to stop the pain. Deciding that raising his neck would be a smarter move, he did so looking towards the entrance.

"Are you alright?" It was the Canine Hybrid he had met earlier (Feli-something right?). He held a small piece of wet cloth in his hand, which he placed against his forehead when he approached him. "We were kind of worried. We feared that you would come down with a fever or something like that, considering that the buck's antlers had ripped your clothing and had been able to open your skin. You are quite lucky you know. You didn't have any broken ribs or anything like that, just some superficial damage." The brunet smiled down to him. "How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better in any case..." He turned his eyes towards him, he was quite blurry, but he could still recognize him thanks to the curl and the whole 'easy-going-and-not-about-to-curse-you-to-hell' attitude. He wondered how everybody else was. They hadn't gotten hurt had they? Frowning to himself, Alfred couldn't believe he was worring over the enemy. For goodness' sake, they were the ones he was meant to annihilate some time in the near feature! What was he thinking?

The image of a pretty young boy's tearful green eyes flashed through his mind and instantly Alfred felt guilty. He didn't like hurting people in general and up until now he had never considered the Hybrids as anything but lower than humans and just below animals. He had never thought that they could be able to _feel_ like he did. Everything he had been told about Hybrids was that they were dangerous and didn't posses any of the human's feelings like love and pity.

Ever since he was a small child his teachers had told him and the rest of his classmates what Hybrids were. They had been creations of humanity, a mixture of humans and animals, but from what he had learnt they were mostly animals that possessed a part of human's intelligence. They were smart and were extremely dangerous for that reason, but that was where any type of resemblance stopped. They looked human enough, but that didn't stop them from being unable to feel things like they did, the teachers always said.

Hybrids were like Neanderthals. Looking human enough, able to create weapons and clothes but incapable of feeling strong emotions, or any kind of emotion at all. They were simply gifted with a greater intelligence than their ancestors, but they were simply considered underneath humans. They were like insects: pests that were below people, but that could still be considered a danger under the right conditions.

In any case, Alfred's beliefs were starting to shake. So far he hadn't seen any of that untamable wildness and heartlessness. Hybrids used plates and forks; they cooked their food and talked like any civilized human. He could remember the protectiveness the whole pack seemed to feel over the little Bunny Hybrid, the care and love that Francis showed constantly (even if it was kind of pervert and slightly sick...) and he could see clearly the sadness and worry in those emerald eyes, eyes that filled themselves with tears that made a path down pale cheeks... Yes, they definitely had nothing to do with the image he had made for himself about them.

He had just realized that the Canine Hybrid had kept on talking the whole time. "... make sure not to move too much because then you are just going to worsen your wounds. If you feel any serious pain you don't think you can handle then call for me or anybody. Right now I have to go, since me and Lovino have to go check out the forest in case any unwanted visitors come around." With that said the young teen got up and left, sending one last smile behind him. "I hope you feel better soon!"

Alfred was left alone again. Closing his eyes, the SA agent tried to rest for a little bit, being able to ignore the dull pain he could still feel. Hearing somebody else walk in, he raised his head in surprise, his eyes only widening as he recognized the person who had walked in. That messy blond hair, that pale skin and those furry ears on top of his head could only belong to the little Hybrid, Arthur.

"Hey," the young boy said, crouching down beside him. Both of his hands were playing with each other in his lap, his head turned elsewhere, not watching the other one. "How are you?"

"Well, everything hurts," noticing the sharp turn of the head, as well as hearing the tiny gasp he quickly added. "It's not unbearable really, it's just that... the pain is there, but it doesn't bother me so much. How are you?" He tried to convince himself that he only asked that because he was being polite, not because he was _really_ worried. Sure, he wasn't known because of his politeness, but that didn't matter, he could be polite when he wanted to, and he didn't have to wander _why_ he was being polite, because damn it! He didn't need a reason!

"That's good," the sigh that followed proved how worried the younger one had been. "I feared you were going to die. There was so much _blood_ and you just kept bleeding and..." The kid shuddered. "But you are alright now right? And that's what matters. You are safe."

Hearing the kid talk like that only made Alfred feel giltier: he had never thought that Hybrids could show so much _compassion._ There were just so many things that were completely wrong with what he believed in. The kid was showing how much he was worried over _him_, the person whose job was to hunt down and kill him and his family. God he had to do something quick to distract himself. It wouldn't do if these feelings started interfering with his job. "I'm okay. How are you?"

"I'm excellent. Animals have this weird ability that enables them to recognize us. I think it's the smell. They realize that we smell similarly like them, even if we still have something weird in us. From that, their instinct tells them if we are a possible predator or not. Since I'm a Rabbit Hybrid, they seem to know that I represent no danger to them, so they leave me alone. For Francis and Adolf it's harder, since their animal is a natural predator. Even Lovino and Feliciano have some troubles, since they are half-wolves."

"Really now?" That was something interesting. He didn't think that the scientists back home knew that sort of thing, since they never bothered to check out the relations between Hybrids and animals. That hadn't seemed quite usefull, but who knew? Maybe that kind of information could help them out to catch other Hybrids. "Do you know where my glasses are?" He probably should have asked for them earlier, but then again, he had been rather distracted.

"Oh! Here they are! You are lucky that nothing happened to them. The force in which the buck had hurt you with was enough to break them." The young Hybrid showed him what he supposed were his glasses, which he instantly placed over his eyes.

"I wasn't that worried. Those glasses are meant to resist an assault and many other kinds of harsh treatment. They are supposed to resist a twenty foot fall at _least_." He blinked as his eyes quickly adjusted themselves, his eyes turning towards his companion.

Arthur's eyes were shinning in surprise and interest. "They can do that?" His voice had a breathless quality in it, leaning closer to see those glasses in detail. "What else can they do?"

Alfred could feel himself blushing. He could admit within himself that the feeling of the Hybrid's soft, warm breath over his face felt nice, and he could even go as far as to say that he had quite lovely eyes. Sure that didn't _mean_ anything; he was simply stating a fact. Whoever could say that those eyes didn't hold any charm clearly had no taste. "Well, they are able to see clearly during the night, but they can also detect movement and heat. There's even a scanner included that scouts the whole area in the search of enemies..." Alfred stopped right there. Arthur had kept approaching their faces, until there weren't more than a few centimeters between them. His eyes were wide open, admiring his glasses as if they were the greatest thing in the world. His pale pink lips were open slightly, forming a small O in surprise. He forced his eyes to turn elsewhere. He shouldn't really be checking out the lips of what was his enemy, especially considering his age. The kid was hardly thirteen and therefore not legal. God it could even be considered pedophilia!

It only took the other one a few seconds to realize their position. Eyes wide, the Bunny Hybrid pushed himself upwards, blushing the whole way. His ears were twitching slightly on top of his head, nervous like their owner. "Sorry. I didn't mean to..." He trailed off, blushing harder.

"Don't worry. Nothing happened right?" Ignoring strongly the slight disappointment, repeating to himself over and over why the whole situation was completely wrong, the American smiled. "What time is it?"

Looking down towards him, Arthur frowned slightly (he really had bushy eyebrows, but he looked kind of cute with them). "It must be around noon. I'm not sure. Are you sure you are alright?" He had seen Alfred frown harshly, his face twisting into something similar to anger.

"Yes, perfectly alright... just kind of hungry." To reinforce his statement his stomach growled, reminding his owner to feed it.

"It's true you haven't eaten since yesterday morning... I'll go and bring you some food." With that the younger boy got up and left, leaving Alfred to his own thoughts.

He was pretty much berating himself.

_What is wrong with you man? That kid is hardly _old_ enough to know what exactly kissing entails. Does he even know what a kiss is? A make out sesion? No he does not. Control yourself. You DO remember your whole training right? Well then use it. If you even as much as touch that kid in any way you can be sure as hell that the others are going to hunt you down. As soon as we go back home we are hitting the bars and finding yourself a nice girlfriend or a friend for the night to get your hormones back under control. If you find yourself fantasizing over a kid who hasn't even _hit _puberty then that means that you have been holding yourself out for too long._

Funny how he never actually berated himself over the fact that the kid he was thinking about was a Hybrid.

When he heard somebody walk in he was expecting to find said Bunny Hybrid. He certainly wasn't waiting for the Fox to show up.

"What are you doing here?" He sounded kind of mean, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Sure these guys were holding him against his will, but he didn't think they would actually hurt him. They had had already many occasions to do so, but not once did they hurt him. In fact, they were doing everything within their power to get him back to full health. So yeah, he wasn't worried about his safety.

"Is zat ze way one shoul' talk to ze one who saved 'is sorry be'ind?" Francis smiled at him charmingly, not that it changed things much. That man was too much of a creep to let your guard down around him.

"Whatever."

"I brought ze food." And indeed he had, showing him a plate in which some cooked meat and smashed potatoes were. Alfred's stomach growled at the sight. He was real hungry, but that didn't stop him from noticing a small detail.

"Where's Arthur?" Wasn't he the one who was supposed to bring him the food?

"It's 'is turn to wash ze dishes. After zat Lovino and Feliciano will keep an eye on 'im. I'm going to be ze one to feed you today. _N'est-tu pas chanceux?_" Francis's smile widened as the other groaned.

"Why me, God?" He asked softly to the roof of the tent, as the older one helped him to raise the upper part of his body to eat. The Frenchie placed some more pillows behind him, so that he had something to lean against.

The Fox Hybrid fed him. Alfred had tried to do the job himself, but had to painfully realize that he couldn't do so. It just hurt too much. They went through the task in silence, something that vaguely surprised the American. He couldn't believe that the older one hadn't tried to do some sort of pass on him during the whole thing.

"I just want to 'ave somezing clear between us," he said as he handed the SA agent a small glass of some kind of fruity drink. "If you ever 'urt _Arthur_, if you ever make 'im cry, I swear to God zat I'm going to 'unt you down and make you regret ze day you were born. You better treat 'im good." Francis kind of reminded Alfred of an over-protective brother threatening his little sister's boyfriend behind her back. Why he felt something like that he had no idea. He drank quickly, trying not to read too much in between the lines. Whenever he tried to do so things usually ended badly. "Zat being said, I 'ope zat you 'ave a good night." Alfred wanted to point out that it wasn't night time, and that it was only the beginning of the afternoon, so he had no reason to feel sleepy, but now that he thought about it, he kind of _did_.

Yawning, Alfred leaned fully against the pillows, his eyelids closing slowly. He was really tired. Closing his eyes fully, Alfred let sleep take him completely.

When Alfred eyes opened again, he had the vague feeling that he had passed another day sleeping. Sighting, he realized with surprise that the pain had receded to a minimum, and that he could now breathe normally. Blinking he attempted to get up, surprising himself further since the pain that usually came with such movements was hardly there. Shocked, Alfred wondered from where had such fast-paced healing had come from. He was pretty much sure that normally the pain should have stayed for a few days more, at least.

Getting up, he walked out of the tent for the first time, wincing slightly as he went. It wasn't really painful, but more like uncomfortable. Turning to the right side, he tried to check out the camp site in search of the Hybrids. This proved to be a bad idea because with his movement the pain flared up quite a bit. Holding his side, he reminded himself to keep movements to the minimum.

"Oh, you are up." A voice said in front of him. The voice didn't sound very happy, in fact Alfred could almost say that he sounded disappointed in front of this fact. But then again he could be imagining things, since Mattie always reminded him just how bad he was at reading the atmosphere. Because come on, nobody is that sadistic as to be _disappointed_ because he had healed. Looking up, Alfred came face to face with one of the Canine Hybrids, the grouchy one from yesterday... or was that two days ago?

The twin stood in front of him, one hand on a slim hip while the other one stayed by his side. The guy, although around his age, was a head smaller than him. His eyebrows were pulled down in a slight frown that seemed to be almost permanent in his face, and his brown and green-tinted eyes kept watching him, in a weird mixture of indifference and wariness. Obviously this one knew what he was capable of.

"Yeah... who are you again?"

Rolling his eyes skyward, the other one seemed to hesitate between ignoring him or answering. Sighting, his frown became more pronounced, looking over him carefully. "It's Lovino. Call me anything else and I will castrate you." His voice sounded serious enough, making Alfred shudder. He just kept receiving threat after threat didn't he?

"Right. Where's everyone?" He had to stop himself from twitching. He had received worse threats than this one and even if the guy in front of him was a Hybrid and therefore completely capable of going through with his threat, Ivan was far more scarier than that...

Lovino shrugged. "Feliciano is preparing some pasta to eat and the Frog and Arthur already left in search for some water I think. I'm the one who was supposed to look after you."

Alfred wasn't the kind of guy who let first impressions dictate what he thought of a person, but he had the feeling that this Canine Hybrid didn't have very good bedside manners. "Well, as you can see I'm perfectly alright, so I don't need you to take care of me." He added a bright smile in the end.

The other one didn't look very impressed. "Believe me when I say that _I couldn't care less_. Feli insisted, and since you can walk, you better come with me. That way he will calm down and would leave me alone." Turnning around, and not waiting for any kind of answer, the Hybrid walked off, leaving no other choice to the SA agent but to follow him.

They didn't have to go far. In fact, the other twin had simply placed himself behind the tent, under a tree a few feet away from them. Feliciano was there, cooking food over a small fire that had been placed there. From what Alfred could see, the huge bowl thingy (he had no idea what that was) only had something boiling inside. Probably the food.

"You are awake!" shouted the giddy teenager when he looked up from the food. Unlike his brother, Feliciano wore a huge smile in his face, clapping his hands as he jumped up and down. He was clearly glad to see him up and going, unlike _some_ people... "I was afraid that Francis had given you too many sleeping pills!"

Wait, what?

"WHAT?" Alfred's mouth reached the floor, his eyes wide as saucers. Okay... he hadn't expected that one...

"Sleeping pills?" The twin's head was cocked to the side, wondering why the American was reacting so strongly.

"A SA agent's DNA is enhanced so that they have higher chances of survival against us. Therefore your immunity and healing system is stronger than any other human, but not as strong as ours. To accelerate things we gave you some sleeping pills, that way you cloud heal faster as you slept." Lovino explained in a bored tone, leaning against the tree in a careless fashion. His eyes kept themselves on the blond however, watching everyone of his movements.

Said blond turned his head the other way, feeling himself blush. He had kind of forgotten that tiny detail. Since their physical attributes were pushed to the point in which they were _almost_ inhumane, they were able to heal faster than other humans, but never quite like Hybrids, since they had the immune system similar the the animal they were joined to. Maybe Mattie had a point whenever he whined about his memory that ressembled to that of a goldfish... but it wasn't _that_ bad was it?

"Right..." he muttered. Everyone fell silent after that, the only noise being Feliciano's cheery singing as he cooked, and even that was done in moderate silence. Alfred shifted his weight from one foot to the other, feeling uncomfortable. What was he supposed to do now?

"_Fratello_? _Puoi cercare due pomodori per la salsa?_" Feliciano's voice reached his brother's ears. Rolling his eyes and grumbling under his breath Lovino got up, walking of somewhere.

"Where's he going?"

"I asked him if he could bring me some tomatoes for the sauce." The nicer twin gave him a winner smile, continuing to steer the sauce.

Alfred blinked, slightly surprised. He had kind of expected the other twin to simply tell him to do it himself, or throw a tantrum before he actually got up and did so. He felt kind of bad now, having such a bad image of the Canine Hybrid. Sure he hadn't been nice, but that was probably because he was a SA agent, somebody that represented a huge danger towards him and his pack. He had no reason to think such things of somebody he had just met. After all, he seemed to seriously care about his brother.

It kind of reminded him of his own relationship with his brother. They were polar opposites when it came to personalities, but that never stopped him from watching out for Mattie, or Mattie from taking care of him in other ways. They loved each other dearly, even if they never said it aloud. There was never the need to tell each other about their feelings, because they just _knew_. The twin's relationship was probably like his. They acted nothing alike and yet there was something there that never needed comfirmation, something that came naturally to them like breathing and sleeping.

A soft smile drew itself in his lips, a smile he hardly noticed as he watched the twin (Lovino) return and help his brother a little bit before he returned to his original position. He could hardly believe that Hybrids acted in such ways, reminding him of ways families acted, the way his own family acted around each other. It had been a while since he last visited his parents, coming to think about it.

He didn't know exactly how long he stood there, but it wasn't that long. When Feliciano had finished preparing the food and handed out plates for everyone he hesitated for a second, before he sat down beside the twins. Neither said anything about it, and both started talking to each other in what he was sure was Italian. He felt a little bit put to the side, but for once he decided to pay attention to the relationship between the brothers.

They both ate quietly but sometimes, when Feliciano was getting excited about one of his stories, Lovino would frown and interrupt his brother, taking a small napkin to clean the sauce that smeared around his lips or simply to reprimand him because he was talking with the mouth wide open. They were the perfect image of sibling relationship, the older one taking care of the younger one (ar at least he thought that Lovino was the older one), and Alfred felt his lips smile again, this time in amusement. They were one of a kind.

It didn't take long either for Arthur and Francis to return. They had finished eating a while ago and Feliciano was taking his usual siesta, but Lovino stayed up to watch over the American. When they returned, Arthur's eyes brightened and he rushed forward. "You are awake!" he shouted in greetings, a huge smile in his lips.

The older blond returned the smile. "Yeah... How did it go?" His attention was taken fully by the younger one, although he did notice Lovino falling asleep, while Francis took some of the pasta for himself and Arthur.

"It went okay I suppose... How are you? You were asleep for a whole day. Are you feeling better?" Arthur crouched beside him, both of his hands on the floor and his two ears twitching around, being a physical proof of his excitement. He took the plate the Frenchie handed him without turning around, keeping his eyes fully on the American.

"What do you mean a whole day?" They hadn't given him enough pills to make him sleep for a day had they?

Arthur's slight blush seemed to proof other wise. "It's just that since we are leaving tomorrow we couldn't just leave you all alone while you were healing so we gave you lot's of pills so that you could sleep longer and heal faster so that way when we left you wouldn't have to handle yourself and..." The liitle bunny kept rambling, but Alfred had stopped listening.

He had just listened to the fact that tomorrow they would all leave. Counting in his head he realized that a week had almost gone by and soon it would be time for him to leave as well. He surprised himself by feeling slightly disappointed. He wasn't growing attached to them was he? He had only passed a week with them and sure, they had fed him, healed him and seemed to seriously like him, but that didn't mean that he could care for them. Sure, he could feel gratefull for what they had done for him, but he couldn't start caring for them. He was a SA agent! He was trained to kill them! He couldn't start feeling things for them!

Ignoring his current feelings, he watched the mismatched family in front of him. Francis had reclaimed attention from Arthur and they were both talking; more like bickering. Francis would make fun of Arthur, to which the younger would answer violently. This would usually catch Lovino's attention, who would always side with the Hybrid Bunny. Feliciano would then try to make amends between them before thing got really violent, which usually happened when Lovino's patience (which wasn't even that big) reached its limits.

Alfred surprised himself by joining from time to time to the fights, always backing up Arthur. Every time the younger one would send him a grateful smile; one that made Alfred feel warm. This was why he always like helping people out. When they showed their thanks, by a word, a small smile or even a tiny gift, he felt content, warm. That was the main reason why he had joined the Specialized Army (even if the discounts, the considerable popularity and the respect that came with it were huge bonuses), he just liked helping people in any way he could.

The rest of the afternoon passed that way, and not once did Alfred ever consider running away. The sun was setting down when they fell in a comfortable silence. They stayed like that, until a sound made them all turn around. There was another tent, one not far from the one Alfred had used, that had opened, and out walked Adolf, tall and imposing.

He walked calmly to their direction, his tail swishing this way and that in a nonchalant way. His hair was a little mussed from sleeping, but his golden eyes watched Alfred carefully, in the way a wolf would have when studying a possible danger. The silence that surrounded them made Alfred uncomfortable and this time he couldn't stop himself from twitching. Arthur then took his hand softly, smiling towards him in a reassuring way when the older blond turned his way.

When Adolf finally reached them they all set out to work without a word. While Lovino left to search for the food, Francis set out to prepare the fire. Feliciano looked for the cooking utensils and Arthur helped in any way he could. Sometimes he helped Lovino carry the food, or Francis with the wood or even handing over anything Feliciano may need while he prepared everything. This left Alfred all alone, with the Wolf Hybrid beside him. The man didn't try to make any sort of conversation and Alfred didn't even dare try. The silence was almost unbearable, especially since Alfred, on principle, hated any kind of forced silence (or simply silence itself).

When everything was ready, everybody had a plate with food in their hands and everybody had sat down, the tension was almost palpable. Nobody dare try to break it, so everybody ate in silence. Alfred forced himself to eat for once in his life, since he could still feel those golden eyes watching him carefully for any kind of mistake. Beside him Arthur played with his food, his ears twitching more and more as time passed. The silence continued.

"How did your day go?" Adolf's voice was the one to break the silence, making everyone flinch in surprise. Feliciano was the first to talk, detailing his day. As he talked Lovino did so too, if only to correct his brother on something or other. From there Francis joined the conversation, making Arthur join to when he started making fun of him again. The tension left each of them little by little, until it was nothing more but a bad memory.

The night had finally fallen and everybody sat around the fire, talking. Alfred didn't dare join, and Adolf didn't even try. They were all listening to Lovino and Francis fight over something (what that something was, Alfred had no idea) when something heavy fell on his shoulder. Turning around, he was surprised to see that Arthur had fallen asleep against him.

His eyes were closed and his face was completely peaceful. He looked even younger like that Alfred noted with surprise, and he looked quite cute too. Blushing slightly, Alfred turned his attention to everybody else, surprised to see Feliciano falling asleep against his twin, while said twin tried to keep him awake if only to take him to their tent. Francis watched them for a few seconds before he too left to help Lovino. Adolf in the other hand simply watched him, as if waiting for something. Carefully the SA agent got up, holding the little Hybrid against his chest and turned questioning eyes towards him. Getting up, Adolf took him to his own tent, where Alfred placed Arthur after a moment of hesitation.

"You can sleep there too." Was all he said before he turned around, watching the forest.

Alfred turned towards him in surprise, but seeing no other reaction from the older one, he did as he was told, placing himself beside the little Bunny. The last thing he saw before sleep claimed him once again was a soft, angelic face sleeping inches away from his own.

**

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Translations**

_N'est-tu pas chanceux- _Aren't you lucky_  
_

_Fratello_? _Puoi cercare due pomodori per la salsa?-_ Brother? Can you look for two tomatoes for the sauce?

Read and review if you have anything to say, but right now I really have to run!


	9. Chapter 9

I'm aware this chapter is like, short. But it's only a transition, the real action is next. In any case I'm sorry for making you wait, I'm really really sorry and I'm trying my hardest to up date as fast as I can. In a brighter note, THANKS EVERYBODY FOR READING, REVIEWING AND EVERYTHING ELSE! And big thanks to Hippie Vampire. I really really thanks her.

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Returning home

What woke him up this time wasn't a bucket of water, nor noises from voices that talked around him. Sunlight fell directly over his face, forcing his eyes open. He had to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust to the harsh light. Well, one couldn't say that his hosts were perfect, considering that they were making him sleep outside over damp grass, with only a thin blanket to cover him...

Something wasn't quite right.

Looking around himself for the first time, he realized the situation he was in. He was alone, in the middle of the clearing in which he had fallen asleep in Adolf's tent, beside Arthur, his belongings (as in his own tent and the few things he had brought along) right beside him in perfect order. They had actually left. Getting up, Alfred almost felt as if the last few days had been nothing more than a dream. For what other reason would he stay beside some Hybrids, why would he still think about them and their different personalities, why would he feel that he had been left behind...

Shaking his head, the dirty blonde felt like an idiot for the first time in his life. He had attached himself to them hadn't he, however slightly? A bitter smile drew itself in his lips. That would teach him. Maybe next time he wouldn't do something quite so _stupid_ and would for once listen to his voice of reason (that reminded him of Ludwig and Hans). He got up and started packing up (even if there wasn't much to do) before he headed out.

This time finding his way was harder. He tried to remember the path he had taken to follow Lovino from the river, but even that memory was quite blurry. He tried harder, trying to listen to the nature around him. Maybe if he paid attention he could hear the river flowing and he was sure that from there he could return back home. He walked around for a few hours, and by the time he had been able to find the river it was already noon, like his stomach constantly reminded him.

He tried not to think about the delicious food that Francis and Feliciano had done for him. He tried, he really did, but he had to admit that nothing could quite compete with that food. Sighing and closing his eyes, the American decided to stop for a little rest. Sitting near the riverside, he looked into the water, remembering the time he had found Arthur bathing himself in this very same river. A blush rose to his cheeks when he actually took notice of his actions, and was quite surprised the little Bunny Hybrid hadn't done anything to him because of that. Maybe he too hadn't thought too hard about that?

He kept walking through the forest; the crunch of leaves and the whispers of the wind only accentuated the loneliness that surrounded him. He kept an eye around him, instinctively searching for any sort of movement, half hoping to see a pair of fluffy ears on top of bright blond hair. He hummed a song to himself, trying to distract himself. It was sad to say that he failed _royally_ at that.

When he finally reached the end of the forest he was ready to run to the nearest fast-food he could find. His stomach only growled louder at the thought of the delicious food that was just waiting for him. Even if he was in the zone the furthest from real civilization and technology that didn't mean that they didn't have everything one needed to survive: fast-foods, malls and shops still littered the place, even if it was in a lower frequency than what he was used to. Maybe Mattie thought that five malls in one single zone was a bit too much but Alfred thought it was perfect.

He looked around himself. He could see a few houses around him (no apartments) and he noticed a woman and her husband watching him with wide eyes, their little dog pulling on its leash so that they could continue their walk. Blushing, the SA agent supposed that after a week in the forest without taking a bath he was quite a sight to see. Wincing, Alfred decided that maybe taking a shower before returning home would be a smarter move.

"You finished with your vacation?" Turning around, the dirty blond wondered if it was natural that the first one to find him was always Vash. Said guy was watching him, one eyebrow cocked in surprise and curiosity. He had a pair of pants and a short-sleeved green shirt and jacket, gun mysteriously absent. Beside him was a younger girl (twelve maybe?) who although she had the same hairstyle had a pretty white summer dress and a light sweater on top.

"Yeah..." What more could he say?

"Hope you had fun," the blond sounded like he could careless and was simply trying to keep himself polite. "Let's go Lily."

The younger girl (sister?) turned towards Vash, a frown marring her pretty face. "Brother, we can't leave him like that. Why don't we invite him over so that he can take a shower and have something to eat? After, you can take him back to his home." Alfred could se that the trigger-happy blond wanted to argue, but a small pout from his sister stopped him.

Looking between the two of them, the American already knew how things were going to end. "Fine. He can come." Bingo!

Smiling, he followed the two of them back to their own home. They didn't live very far and for that Alfred was thankful. His feet were killing him. The house was a two-story, washed white place with a small yard in the front. There were a few flowers planted, and as they walked inside the SA agent caught sight of a ceramic gnome hidden behind some flowers. This place was the kind of house you didn't see any more in the city and saw them mostly in a photo of some kiddie's story book.

He had to raise an eyebrow at that. Vash didn't seem like the kind of guy who would willing live in a place like this. In the dirty blonde's head, the violent blond belonged in a small, run-down apartment with a good number of dangerous guns and weapons lined up against a wall. Maybe Mattie was right, maybe he watched too many action movies for it to be healthy.

"Here we are," said the yound girl with a soft smile. "Make yourself at home. You can take Big Brother's bathroom. Just walk up the stairs; it's the door in the end of the hall to the left. You should give me your clothing too. I can put it to the wash. After you are done go to the kitchen. You look like you could do with a meal or two."

_More like four or five_, thought Alfred to himself as he thanked the blond girl and walked upstairs as quickly as he could. He could feel Vash's evil eye following him all the way to the top. His instincts of survival (which he _did_ have, no matter what others said) were telling him to run for his life. Being a hero, he couldn't do something like that, so he went for the next best thing: he rushed as if the Devil itself was after him.

When he reached the bathroom he walked in. The place was simple and white. Quickly taking off his clothes, he placed them outside the door, so that Lily could take them and wash them and hopped into the shower. Feeling the warm water over himself almost made him sight in happiness. It felt awesome taking a shower after a long week in the forest. Closing his eyes, Alfred wondered were the pack of Hybrids had gone. Had they passed the border without problems? Had they been caught? What if one of them was seriously hurt?

Alfred's eyes widened as he imagined the poor little Bunny Hybrid all alone in the forest, blood seeping down his arm, calling for his other pack members with only silence as his answer. The SA agent had to take deep breaths before he started hyperventilating. _He's just a Hybrid, he's just a hybrid. Forget him, forget him..._

"Mister? I have your clothes! I'm leaving them behind the door okay?"

"Thanks!" Lily left and Alfred realized he had yet to present himself to the little girl. Sighing, he finished quickly, got dressed as fast as he could and walked towards the kitchen. Whatever they were cooking it smelt good, even if at this point _anything_ seemed good enough to eat. Never in his life had a day passed without him eating at least a meal and he wasn't about to start.

The kitchen was simple, like the rest of the house. There were touches of light green here and there, reminding him slightly about his childhood home. The kitchen was similar to this one, but instead of green his step-mom preferred soft reds and blues. He really should find some time to visit his parents one of this days.

"Here you go! I hope you like it," Lily served him a plate while he sat down. He took a bite and looked up to the girl's nervous face and Vash's warning eyes. He nodded his head, smiling. The young girl clapped her hands in delight, a huge smile on her lips. "That's great! When you finish eating, Vash will take you back home in his car. We can't just let you go like that, you must be so tired!"

Vash didn't bother hiding his distaste, but nodded none the less. All he could hope for right now was that he wouldn't do anything to him on the way there. After he had finished, they walked up to the garage, leaving little Lily to clean up the dishes. They hardly talked to each other, Alfred only telling the other blond his address, which Vash wrote down on his GPS.

Even if Alfred wasn't a very silent person he believed that if he as much as tried to start a conversation, the temperamental teen wouldn't hesitate on throwing him out. When they finally reached his apartment he sighted in relief, turning to thank the other one. He walked directly to his place and simply scratched the polar bear's head before he walked into his room and flopped down to his bed. He was so tired.

* * *

The first thing he had done after waking up was call Gilbert. Whining about the whole week he had been forced to stay home, they decided to meet up in a club, because it was obvious that Alfred needed a good lay if he was thinking about pre-prubescent kids. He dressed up, getting a pair of dark jeans, a crisp white shirt and polished shoes. He thought about gelling his hair, but decided against it. He simply didn't pull off that look.

Leaving a note to Matthew, saying he had returned and he was hanging in the club with his team to celebrate a successful mission, he closed the door, remembering to feed the bear (what was its name again?) before he left.

He walked all the way to the club, putting on his bomber jacket. It had belonged to his father, and before him to his grandfather. He loved that jacket to dead and Gilbert had even once said that if he ever gave that jacket to someone, it would mean that he was in love... which wasn't that far fetched, considering that he had never wanted to share his precious possession to his old girlfriends. Maybe someday he would find somebody to give it to, like his father had done before him and his grandfather before that. Who knew?

When he reached the club, Gilbert was already waiting for him. He was dressed all black, with a simple red shirt to add a little bit of colour. He looked like a demon that was visiting Earth, especially with his white hair and blood red eyes. They showed their SA badges and the bouncer let them in without question.

Being a man of the Government had its perks.

They danced and drank the whole night, laughing and flirting with any girl that caught their interest. While Gilbert ended up getting a few slaps for being too straight-forward, Alfred settled with a pretty light brunette, with shinning green eyes. They ended up making out in a couch in a dark corner, but Alfred didn't feel like going further with her. Somehow, he didn't feel he was being fair with her. He said his goodbyes, and shouted to Gilbert that he was leaving, while said albino was charming a young man. He shook his head. It would be nice to see Gilbert actually being in a serious relationship. Even _he_ had had quite few serious ones, lasting at least a few months before they broke up. Gilbert's didn't even last a day.

Walking out, he decided to visit the only park in his zone. It wasn't even that big, but late at night there was this quaint feeling in the air that calmed the SA agent. Finding a lone bench he sat down, closing his eyes and just letting the sound of nature surround him. Opening his eyes, he looked around himself, catching a young couple a little further down, sitting in their own bench. He felt lonely all of a sudden and wished internally that he could find somebody with whom he could share his life. He remembered his mother and his father's relationship and even the way his stepmom and his dad acted around each other. They hid nothing to each other, whispered sweet things into each other's ears and loved each other dearly.

He had always wondered why his relationships never worked. There wasn't that soft and discreet companionship and he never felt completely comfortable with his girlfriends. That was one of the reasons they broke up. In fact he had almost given up on love, deciding to focus himself on his career. He really wished to find somebody to love.

Sighting, the sixteen year old got up, bright and innocent green eyes flashing through his head before he walked home. Maybe he should simply concentrate on his job before he searched for love.

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So there you go! Things are heating up from now on! :P Check out my profile because I decided to place a poll over there to check out what other pairings people want, beside the obvious. You can find about anything over there.

See ya all on the next chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

Merry Christmas people! I hope everyone had fun and got whatever they wanted for Christmas! So here is the latest chapter of Hybrid! I want to thank everybody for reading/reviewing/favoring/alerting my story, I give lots of hugs and kisses to you all! Especial thanks to Hippie Vampire, because she's a great beta!

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When Destiny Begins

"Happy Birthday Peter!"

Opening his bright blue eyes, the now thirteen year old blinked a few times. A huge smile then made its way in his face. "I'm thirteen now!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his bed to hug his 'mom'.

"That you are! Come downstairs quickly before your breakfast gets cold!" Tino smiled brightly, kissing his child in the forehead. "Your papa is waiting for you down stairs."

"Okay!" the child, now officially a teen, shouted as he rushed to his closet. Looking inside, he hesitated for a second. He was a big boy now and he couldn't go around wearing childish clothes. He brought out his sailor outfit, thinking. He really had to get over such things. It was time he grew up and showed people just how mature he could be. Nodding his head, he dropped his favorite outfit, hunting within his messy closet for something good enough to wear.

Tino Väinämöinen watched his child for a while, thinking things over. Sighing, he lost his smile for a second, before it returned in full force. "Well, I'm leaving so that you can get dressed," he said as the young boy brought out a pair of dark blue bermudas and a matching shirt with some anime show or something in the front. "I'll be waiting for you downstairs."

Smiling at the absent-minded nod he got in return, Tino got up, getting out and walking down the stairs to join his husband. Said husband was waiting for him in the living room, sitting in the rocking chair he had done with his very own hands. In fact, those very own hands held a small package in between them, a dark brown box with holes everywhere and a bright red ribbon on top.

"Did it fall asleep?" the shorter blond asked, his violet eyes blinking.

The other one grunted. "Prob'bly." His cold blue eyes turned to his 'wife' eyes softening at the same time. "You ok'y?" There was no need to elaborate, since the other one understood perfectly what he was trying to say.

_Are you sure you want to do it? Will you be alright?_

Tino smiled brightly, "We can't keep him in the dark. What if somebody else told him? It's not right keeping things like this away from him."

The other watched him for a few seconds, thinking things over before he opened his mouth to answer. He never did say what he had to say, because Peter was running down the stairs. "Presents!" the boy shouted, stopping right in front of the door.

Smiling, Tino gave him quick hug, before Berwald walked up, handing over the much awaited present.

Which had woken up.

Eyes wide as he heard the bark, the blue eyed child rushed in taking off the ribbon and opening the box. Inside a cute little ball of fur sat, looking up at their new master with shiny black eyes. "Woof!" it barked, tail wagging in excitement. He had been trapped inside the box for too long.

Squealing in delight (and not caring how childish he looked) Peter brought the puppy out, holding it tightly against his chest. The box drooped in the floor, long forgotten as Peter cooed and giggled at his birthday present. He couldn't wait to show off his new pet to Raivis! "What's its name?"

"Hanatamago. She's a girl," Tino thought it wise to add. Looking at his son _(but he isn't_ a tiny voice reminded him_) _he dared glance at Berwald, who argued him forward with his eyes. They both knew that if either of them had to talk, it definitely couldn't be him. "Peter," looking up the child blinked, curious. "Why don't you sit down? Your father and I have something to tell you."

Worried, the messy blond sat down. Was he in trouble? He hadn't done anything stupid for a while, so he couldn't see what his parents wanted to talk to him about. Sure, he had pulled and cut the tresses of the girl that sat in front of him in class, but he personaly thought she deserved it. She had been mean to Raivis and him!

Closing his eyes, Tino had to find the strength within him to continue. His husband's warm hand over his own calmed him somewhat. "Peter, you know that no matter what your father and I love you right? That nothing will ever change that?"

This was seriously worrying the birthday boy. "Yeah?"

"You were adopted." Tino decided to grab the bull by its horns and hope that everything will be alright.

Silence followed the statement.

Holding his new puppy closely, Peter closed his sea blue eyes. He had always kind of known. Kids in his school never stopped making fun of him, since he didn't have a mom and they always reminded him he looked nothing like his two dads. Nobody in his family had his eyebrows after all. Didn't mean it didn't hurt. "Why are you telling me this?" his voice trembled and only now did the boy realize that his hands trembled too. He shouldn't cry. He was a big boy. Big boys don't cry. It was his birthday, he had no reason to cry. "Why now?"

Slowly the smaller adult walked towards his boy (_not yours, never yours_) sitting beside him in the couch and circling his arms around him. "It was your real parents' wish" He ignored the tiny pinch he felt in his heart as he said this. "They left this behind for when you were thirteen."

In his hands was a DNA letter. Those letters were quite common between blood families. The only way to open them was with the blood of a family member. The one who composed the letter simply let a few drops of his blood fall on the seal and only the blood of his family could open it. Those letters were quite useful for when families wanted to pass on information to their loved ones. In fact, it was most commonly used as a will left behind by a dying member of the family That way, one could be sure that nothing was falsified.

Letting Hanatamago sleep in his lap, the young boy took the letter, unsure of what to do next. His 'mum' held out a pin, which he took with trembling hands. Carefully, almost as if he was afraid, Peter pricked his index, hard enough to draw out blood. Once that was done, he pressed his finger against the seal, before he had time to stop himself.

The three members of the family watched, waiting for something to happen. After a few seconds, a hologram appeared right over the place the seal was placed. In front of them was a man, who had reached the midtwenties at least. He had messy brown hair, bright blue eyes and prominent eyebrows. He held himself with pride, head held high and shoulders pushed backwards. He looked in front of him, looking at something none of them could see.

"Hello Peter," the letter started, and the man let a sad smile grace his lips. "I would suppose that you are thirteen and that it's your birthday today. I know I asked the ladies of the orphanage in my letter to give you this when your birthday came up, but God knows if they did as I asked them. I suppose you would know too, since you are the one opening the letter.

I don't know if you are still in the orphanage, or if you were adopted by a caring family or not. I don't know if I made the right decision in leaving you behind. I can only hope that God or whoever watches over us looked after you. I hope that you are living a happy life right now and if you aren't... I hope you find it in yourself to forgive me.

You may wander why I left you behind, you may be asking yourself about your mother and I or about your past life... if you can call it that. Before I answer any questions I want you to be sure that you are either alone or with people you _know_ won't let you go once they learn what I'm about to tell you."

There was a moment of silence, in which both Tino and Berwald hesitated on leaving. Peter shook his head, begging them with his eyes to stay. Neither of them moved after that and the hologram continued.

"My name is Archibald Kirkland. Of course nobody except my family called me that, so I usually went for Archie. I was the eldest of my family, since I had a little sister. She died when she was ten. I was fifteen back then, and she had died after a Hybrid attack that had ocurred during a camping trip with her friend's family. My mother and father never really got over it and neither did I for a long time. I then joined the Specialized Army. I had hoped that by doing that I was avenging my sister's death, along with the thousand of people who died at that time.

I was an excellent hunter. My superiors even called me the best. I wasn't the best hunter when it came to simple fighting, but I had the urgue to kill. I never hesitated on finishing off a Hybrid, while many others hesitated at the very last second, thinking about their own families and the 'tiny' differences that separated us from being like them. In my eyes, they were all monsters. It didn't matter how many mothers pleaded for their child's life, how many fathers begged me to leave their family alone. My sister had died in their hands, and for that they had to pay.

I became a real threat for the Hybrids. They decided to lead me to a trap and finish me off. They were three of them. One was to be the Hunter, another Prey and the last one the... well I suppose we could call him the Watcher. He was a Bird Hybrid that watched everything from high up in the air. The Hunter was a Wolf Hybrid, who would kill me before I hurt the Prey. The last one was a Bunny Hybrid, a Britannia Petite and female, so that I would let my guard down significantly.

I didn't. She was quite small, but there was something in her eyes that told me not to mess with her. Britannia Petites are extremely active creatures and react violently when they feel in danger. She quickly caught on that I wasn't going to make things easy for her. In a split-second decision she changed route, taking me away from where the Hunter waited. The Watcher wasn't sure on what to do and decided to reach the Wolf so that they could both help the Britannia Petite. In the mean time I followed her, going deeper and deeper into the forest, making sure not to lose sight of her. She was fast, but I managed to catch on with her. We reached a clearing when she turned around and faced me, ready to fight. Her hair was long and tangled, held up in a messy ponytail. I could tell she was blond, but it was hard for me to tell since it was so dirty. She was naturally pale, but she obviously needed to take a bath. I placed myself in position as well, meeting her square in the eyes.

Neither of us moved. I couldn't take my eyes off hers. They were like emerald fires, taunting me while at the same time watching me carefully. Her position started to relax and I could tell she had let her guard down. She had even closed her eyes and didn't seem to be paying me attention. I could have attacked and I was pretty sure that I could have finished with her. But I didn't.

Her companions had finally reached us and the Wolf Hybrid went directly at me, ready to kill me. I didn't react at first and I got a nasty slash in my back. That was when she interfered, holding me closely as she turned her back on him. I don't know which one of us was more shocked, him or me. I was starting to lose consciousness, and the last thing I remember is her arms holding me close to her as she tried to stop the blood flow.

When I woke up, I found myself in the middle of a Hybrid camp. Long story short, the leaders were fighting over me, some wanting me to live and others wanting me dead. During my stay there I learnt a lot. The Wolf Hybrid was Adolf, one of the very first Hybrids created, along with Christensen Andersen. He had the DNA of the Mute Swan and had a pair of wings in his back. The Bunny Hybrid who had saved me was named Victoria. She was the one who cared for me and watched over me. She taught me everything she could about Hybrids and their lives. While some of them were dangerous, having let their animal side completely take over, others weren't like that was one of the first things I learnt.

She showed me a whole new world I had never thought existed within the Hybrids. While they never denied their heritage, they had learnt to find a balance between their human part and their animal one. They had used what they had learnt during their training to their advantage using their nature to it's full potential.

It didn't take long before I fell in love with her. Before I knew it, I had married her as her own people did. We found a discreet place to live in, building our own little cottage and having our friends over. We lived that way for almost four years. Soon after our marriage we had a little boy. While he had my messy hair and eyebrows, he was a carbon copy of Victoria. They both had the plae skin, golden hair, emerald eyes and furry ears and tail. We named him Arthur, in honour to my father, who I never saw again. Later on, when Arthur was three we had another little boy. He looked a lot like his big brother, except for two things: he had bright blue eyes and no sign of Hybrid heritage in him.

These sort of things are extremely rare. Genetics are a funny thing and while Hybrid genes are dominant from time to time there is a tiny child who shows no exterior sign of being any different than a human. We named this little boy Peter, since if there was something Victoria loved it was the story of Peter Pan. We lived peacefully for a while, four or five months, before the SA found us. Adolf had been there for a visit, since he wanted to see his godson, Arthur. Both Adolf and Victoria felt them as they neared so they jumped in action. Explaining me everything Adolf stayed with me, holding Arthur while I had you in my arms. Victoria had run to our bedroom, taking everything the two of you may need for our escape. She was just running down the stairs when they fired. Adolf and I dropped missing the bullets, but she wasn't so lucky."

Here Archie took some deep breaths, closing his eyes as if in pain. Opening them, he continued. "A bullet touched her in the heart. She was gone before I could do anything." He once again took a moment to control himself before he dared to continue. "Adolf and I separated. He took Arthur with him while I took you. I was followed for a long time and I knew I couldn't continue running this way with you. I found a place to hide myself, near a small town. There I bought the DNA letter and found out about the orphanage that was there. I decided to leave you behind. It was too dangerous for you to stay with me. Since you had no appereance of a Hybrid I knew no one would hurt you.

It's time for me to finish this letter. The orphanage will open soon and I know that the SA soldiers aren't far. There's a small picture that I placed inside the letter. Just something that you could remember us by. I love you son." The hologram then vanished and silence installed itself in the room.

With trembling fingers Peter pressed on the tiny button on the side. From it came out a small picture, roughly the size of the DNA letter. Picking it up, the birthday boy brought it near his face, both of his adoptive parents leaning to see as well.

It was a family picture. His father, Archie, was exactly in the middle. His hands were around his mother's tiny waist, giving the camera a ghost of a smile. His mother was laughing, ears slightly pulled downward towards the little bundle she held carefully in her arms. The bundle was a baby. It was completely covered by some light blue blanket, but his bright blue eyes were wide open, looking at the camera curiously. Beside them was a tall guy, almost as tall as Berwald. He had a pair of snow white wings in his back and the smile he sent to the camera was full of mischief and arrogance. On the other side of the picture, beside Archie, was an impressive man. It wasn't like he was taller than the other one, but there was something that just demanded respect. His smile was careless but his golden eyes were watchful. He had a pair of dark brown ears on top of his head and you could just see a matching tail peeking from behind him. In his arms was a three year old boy. His emerald eyes were wide open, bright with joy as he smiled a huge (and slightly goofy) smile to the camera. His bunny ears were both turned forwards trying to listen to something that only he seemed to hear.

"I have a brother," was all Peter could murmur, as he watched the photograph in his hands in wonder.

* * *

Deep inside a forest, where rarely, if ever, humans dared go a Council was being held. The members of the Council had all found themselves a place to sit, trying not to disturb the nature surrounding them. Some had placed themselves up in sturdy tree branches, either folding their wings behind their back to be comfortable or holding themselves to the branches with their tails. Others had sat down in the floor or the roots, their own tails moving softly, creating a soft, nearly inaudible hiss from the leaves that littered the forest floor. They were all waiting patiently, knowing how dangerous it could be to reach their meeting place.

They heard the sound of twigs crunching as somebody rushed towards them. Freezing, they listened carefully. Claws were brought out, sharp teeth flashed from the little sunlight that reached their meeting place as wings were unfurled and tails stiffened. No one dared move, waiting for the danger to either pass or to reach them. Some of them smelt the air, trying to guess who the newcomer was. Recognizing the sent they let out their breath, relaxing slightly. Sensing the change in the atmosphere the others did as well. They waited.

From out of the bushes came a young man. His brown hair was held up in a ponytail, but it was paractically undone after running for so long. His SA uniform was crumpled and covered in sweat and his jade green eyes watched everyone, while he tried to catch his breath. Getting up, one of the members rushed towards him. You could see the blond cat tail (that whent through a tiny hole done in the flowing pink skirt) stiffening as the cat ears moved in worry. Gold flashed with the light and you could just tell that one of the ears had been pierced. "Toris!" the Cat Hybrid shouted.

"Felix," looking up the one named Toris tried to make his voice stronger, so that everyone could hear him. "Adolf and his pack... they were caught."

Gasps echoed through the forest and everyone talked at the same time, worrying and wondering what they should do. Chaos was spreading around them and people were panicking as they asked themselves what they sould do.

"Silence." The order wasn't shouted but it still managed to silence everyone present. Turning around, they all watched their Leader, the very first Hybrid ever created. Sitting in a root, the Leader sat with his back straight, a long cloak covering his body and face from everyone in the room. Getting up with difficulty, having to support himself with a cane the Hybrid towered over all.

"It is time for us to act. For too long have we hidden ourselves from the world, letting our creators kill us and experiment on us as they pleased, but this has to stop. We all know that if a war broke out _they_ would be in a disadvantage, needing five of them to face one of us, and even then they aren't enough. I don't know about you, but I believe that we must save our brothers from their prison before it's too late. We shall not wait for the enemy to act. While I don't wish to create a war that will only bring pain to our people I want to show them just _who_ they are messing up with. No more shal we die for no other reason than been what we are. They created us, they made us. It is time for them to face the consequences and take responsibility for their actions."

Silence followed his words. Some Hybrids, having family and friends that they never saw again, cried silent tears while many nodded their heads. It wasn't fair that they were been punished by something they had no control over. They hadn't asked to be born this way, they hadn't begged for it. Some of them had let their animal side control them, letting themselves become little more than animals, but not everyone was like that. In fact, even those who had lost themselves hadn't been like that at one point. But the pain, the bitterness and the hate had become too much, turning them into monsters.

"Yao and his pack, I have a new mission for you."

_

* * *

Run._

_As fast as you can._

_Never stop._

_Never look back.._

_No matter what you hear._

He could hardly breathe. The only things he could hear was his own heartbeat and his breathing; he could only see the road in front of him and his only worry was that he tripped on something and got seriously hurt. He had already fallen, but he only got scratches and some bruises here and there.

He thanked for the rain that had started falling some while ago. While it made things harder for him, it also made things harder for _them_ so he wasn't about to whine. The rain hid his sent from any hunting dogs they had brought along and hid his footprints from their sharp eyes. He was numb and he knew he had to get out quickly before he got seriously sick. The only shelter he could find was the city, but it would be too dangerous for him to find a hiding place there.

He tried to find some other place he could stay away from the rain. He prayed for God, he prayed for anyone that was willing to hear. He had nowhere and no one to go to.

_Someone, help me please._

* * *

Who is the person begging for help? What are the Hybrids planning? What's going to happen now? Well, stay tuned, because more will be reveled in the next chapter! Or will more questions arise? :P

I have a dare for you guys: Just who is the mysterious Bird Hybrid? The name and the animal are REALLY REALLY important. The person who guesses first will be able to personalize one of the members of Yao's pack. You can choose who can be in and what animal he or she is going to be. I suppose I could even take in OCs, as long as you describe some of their character traits.

Check out my poll because I added more possible pairings!

And with that, I done. I leave you all and wish you a happy new year if I'm not able to update sooner than that. Ciao!


	11. Chapter 11

Hello people! Yes, I'm alive and kicking. I'm soooooooo sorry I didn't update sooner but I had a whole week of exams and I just felt my brain drained and I felt so lazy I didn't want to do anything... Not that that is a good excuse but... I hope you can forgive me with this chapter?

Just so that everybody knows, since my beta, Hippie Vampire told me it would be a good idea to make things clear, last chapter we had a three year skip. That means that Alfred is now 19, Arthur 16 and Peter is obviously 13...

Also, thanks to everybody that participated the last time. The Swan Hybrid WAS Denmark (who else imagined Denmark in a white tutu dancing the Swan ballet?) and our winner is... HarikaHalura who was the first to guess correctly! So the character she created is Jenny, which you will meet later on... So on with the story!

* * *

An Unexpected Reunion

Alfred sighed as he returned home. The whole team had spent a month away in the borders and had just returned. Hans had ordered everyone to return home, while he left to hand over a report to the higher ups. Even after such a long time in the SA, the blond man refused any sort of promotion he got, wanting to stay where he was. Not that the higher ups pressed him too much, since he seemed to be the only one who could control the albino and the American in his team. Even if they were nineteen (Gilbert was twenty, but nobody really believed him when he said so, too much of an idiot), they had serious issues with authority. While they liked working for the SA, they hardly, if ever, followed the protocol, preferring to make their own decisions and take action by themselves.

Groaning, the blond remembered the serious punishment that awaited them. Their mission had consisted on watching over the newbies (since it was usually them that were sent to the borders). Each of them had gotten a unit to train. Ludwig had given his some serious training, making them go through hell (by the end of the month they all looked about to die from starvation). Antonio had shown them all why some nicknamed him the Conquistador, letting go of his dark side (the poor kids even screamed and ran every time they caugh sight of the male). Gilbert had been the one to have the most fun, ordering them around and firing at them when he wanted to be obeyed while he himself hadn't done much with them, except ignoring them as he watched over the border.

This had been the last straw for Hans. He had ordered them all to return home as soon as they set foot in the city, claiming that he would take care of the damage. He had promised them that when they returned a small surprise would be waiting for them, which meant that they would have some gruesome job to do for the next two three months.

Finally reaching his apartment the blond smiled at the owner who smiled in return. "Hard time at work huh?" she asked.

"You have no idea."

"Mathew isn't at home right now. He said that he would be returning later, since he had some things to work on with some friend of his for school. Told me to remind you to make yourself something to eat before you went to sleep if you returned."

"Thanks, won't forget it!" smiling his million dollar smile that young man walked up the stairs, since the elevator was going through some repairs right now.

Finally reaching his apartment, Alfred brought out his key, swapping the card over the lock. When the light turned green he opened the door and walked in, smiling. Home sweet home.

Walking towards his kitchen, he looked around for the polar bear. They had genetically modified it so that it never grew on size, making it easier to carry around. Kumajiro (where had Mattie found that name?) still had the same size as a baby polar bear, even if he was already five years old. That didn't mean he ate like one, because he gave him a run for his money every time.

Deciding to prepare something to eat for himself and for Mattie's pet, he looked around the kitchen in search for something to eat. Finding nothing (except for the bear's food, since his brother always made sure to have enough for Kumajiro) Alfred opted on some take out. It had been a while since he last ate some real good, juicy pizza.

Mouth practically drooling at the thought, his hand stretched for the phone, almost missing the noise from down his hall.

Almost.

Stopping any movement, Alfred's hand went for his gun, having yet to take off his equipment. Listening closely, he realized that the noise he had heard were footsteps.

Somebody had broken inside his place.

Bringing the gun against his chest, he waited. The footsteps were light and hesitant. Whoever the person was had heard him in turn, and was approaching him. He waited patiently for the person to reach him. When he caught sight of a shadow right in front of the doorway he reacted. Getting out, he placed himself right in front of the intruder, gun pointed in front of him.

"Alfred..."

His blue eyes widened as he recognized the person. They had grown, but were at least a head smaller than him, if not more. The green cloak was still there, simply longer and reaching his knees. The corn blond hair was slightly longer, but as messy as ever. His face had matured, losing some of that baby fat, but his features were still as delicate as he remembered them. Both bunny ears were stiff, turned towards him, while one hand clutched the bottom of his cloak while the other one was against his chest. Those green eyes _(beautiful, shiny and breath-catching)_ didn't even seem to notice the gun pointed towards him, favoring on watching him with something that made Alfred's own breath catch _(relief, joy, wonder and something he couldn't define). _Neither moved.

"It is you..." his voice had a breathless quality in it, as if the Bunny Hybrid couldn't beleive that Alfred was the one in front of him.

"Arthur..." Alfred couldn't believe that the one in front of him was the Rabbit Hybrid that had disappeared from his life three years ago. He was tempted on pinching himself, just to make sure that he wasn't having another of those dreams. He decided against it, since it wouldn't look very heroic. "What are you doing here?" he decided on asking.

As if remembering the reason of his presence, Arthur's eyes widened before he looked at Alfred square in the eye. He seemed to hesitate a few seconds before he opened his mouth. "I need your help."

Alfred blinked in surprise, not knowing what to say. Opening his mouth to question the younger teen further, he heard the worst noise he could have heard at the moment. The front door was opening.

"Alfred? Mrs. Limestone told me that you were home. Have you given Kumajiro his dinner?" His brother walked into the hall, making his way to the kitchen. Violet eyes wide open in surprise, Matthew tried to make some sense of the scene in front of him. His brother was pointing his gun (which should have been at his room by now) at what could be nothing else but a Hybrid. Watching the bunny ears twitch with something akin to fascination the ninteen year old wondered internally just what was a Hybrid doing inside the apartment of a SA agent.

"Hey Mattie," Alfred guiltily smiled. Letting his gun fall back down to his side, the American wandered just what he should do in this kind of situation. Thankfully, something distracted all of the people present, giving Alfred some more time to think up a logical explanation.

Kumajiro, having left Matthew's room in search of his new playmate, pushed his slightly wet nose against Arthur's calf. Looking down, the young Hybrid smiled softly. Kneeling, he wrapped both of his arms around the polar bear's tummy, pulling him upwards and pressing him against his chest. He looked like a little kid holding his teddy bear, especially when he turned his eyes towards the curly haired teen, studying him carefully yet in a way shyly. "Hello," he murmured, deciding that the person, since they lived with Alfred, wasn't someone dangerous. What's more, he recognized the young man from the many pictures Kumajiro had shown him. This was the polar bear's master. "Kumajiro told me a lot about you."

Blinking, the owner felt compelled to ask, "You can talk to Kumajiro?" Inwardly, he wondered why he was asking him that instead of questioning him on the reasons of this... unexpected visit.

Nodding, the now sixteen year old smiled at the other one shyly. "It isn't that hard. Being half animal really helps out on understanding other animals. We just have to work a little bit on learning their language. It's kind of like when one learns a new language."

Blinking in surprise once again, Matthew felt that he was going to need some time to let the information sink in. In the mean time, he had a brother to talk to. "What's going on Alfred?"

"Excellent question Mattie, which was just what I was going to ask Ar- I mean, the Hybrid over here." Laughing in a slightly histeric way, the SA agent asked himself what had he done to deserve this. He had been a good boy during the whole year.

And that time he almost burned down the Head Quarters doesn't count. He was sure Ivan had something to do with that.

Remembering the whole reason of his visit, the Bunny Hybrid straightened himself, holding the polar bear harder against him. "I need your help Alfred. Adolf and everyone got captured on our way to the meeting place and I was able to get away. I had nowhere to turn to, since the SA was after me, so I entered the city. I somehow detected yout smell, even it it was really faint, and I found this building. It took me a while before I could find your apartment but I managed. I couldn't go inside your room, since the window was locked, but the living room's window wasn't, so I opened it and walked in. Kumajiro found me and after I had given him something to eat, he gave me a small tour of your place. That's when you came in and since I recognized your smell I walked towards you and, well... here we are!"

None of the older teenagers said anything for a while, trying to assimilate the information. While Matthew was still trying to understand why a HYBRID would ask a SA AGENT for help, Alfred wandered what he should do. He couldn't just kick out Arthur back in the streets, especially with this downpour and he couldn't send him to the Head Quarters because that would be simply mean. Maybe he should help out the kid and free his pack? After all, they _had _taken care of him during his short stay with them...

They were in for a long night.

* * *

Ivan Braginski was twenty-six, and the youngest team leader the Specialized Army had ever had. He had quickly risen in ranks, due to his excessive training under his uncle, General Winter and his... naturally dangerous personality. He had been trained since he was a young boy, along with his two sisters, to become the perfect example of a SA soldier. The three had once formed a single team, under the tutelage of their uncle. They were experts fighters, scientists and computer hackers. The team alone was the one that had caught a third of the Hybrids imprisoned inside. They were extremely valuable and no one dared go against them. Only idiots (cough Alfred and Gilbert cough) turned against them.

All of Ivan's rigorous training had paid off. He was the head of a four-man squad. It consisted of himself, his sister Natalya, Eduard von Bock (a young man expert in computers) and Toris Lauriantis. Everybody recognized their talent, and while him and Natalya were enough to hunt down Hybrids, they needed some back up, as well as somebody to watch over their injuries, since they tended to forget they had them.

Walking down the hallways, people threw themselves out of his way, trying not to touch him in any way, since the young man hated physical contact. Some didn't even care if they ended up tripping against some trash can or against others as long as they didn't have to face the Russian. Rumor said that even the higher-ups feared him, trying to do everything to please him. For that reason, along with others, they let him take care of the prisioners. He was the one who 'took care' of them, finding new and inventive ways to spill any kind of information they could have. No Hybrid since he had taken that post had ever left the building alive.

In fact, at the moment the fair haired man was making his way to the newest visitors' cell. He had been informed that a ten-man squad that had gone out patroling had been able to catch not one Hybrid, but a whole pack. This had caught his interest. It was extremely hard to catch one or two Hybrids, but for them to be able to catch a whole pack... that had taken him by surprise.

Finally reaching the Hybrid Wing, he placed his hand against the door, letting it recognize his handprint. The door opened and he walked in, where a metal detector was placed. No one could bring arms inside this place, since Hybrids could find some way to nick them and escape (this had happened once or twice before). After was the full body scanner, before the last door opened letting him inside.

The wing had four floors, counting the basement. The first floor was where the SA offices were located. That's where guards and scientists off-duty could simply take a break and where the video room (where you could see everything happening in the building) were. The second floor was the training/torture floor. That was the place Hybrids usually hang around during one third of their stay. The other third was in the top floor, where they slept each in one cell. During the rest of their time one could find them in the basement, where scientist went through some experiments. They were thinking about moving that floor to the second or third floor, since it was a real pain getting rid of the bodies from the basement.

"You must be here for the new Hybrids," murmured a voice behind him. Tunring, Ivan looked at the older man with emotionless eyes. The person was already in their thirties, but was the one who owned the whole building. With olive skin, dark brown hair and eyes hidden behind a porcelain mask, Sadik Adnan was the owner of this prision. His men were each experts in their field, knowing how to give a never ending pain all while being able to kill effortlessly, in case the Hybrid really wouldn't talk. Sadik had never actually taken care of such things, letting others do the work for him, but it had been his calculating and sly mind that had convinced the higher-ups to hand him the job.

Ivan simply nodded his head, having nothing else to say. Sadik turned around, knowing that the other would follow him without any words needing to be said. They had reached the top floor when the darker man's cool and collected presence seemed to evaporate. Sleeping in a chair, was a lightly tanned man with dark, chocolate brown hair, who was normally in duty and was supposed to keep an eye on the prisoners. "Wake up!" snapped the Turkish man, kicking on the chair's leg. Olive green eyes opened and flashed in annoyance, before they regarded their boss coldly.

Neither said anything for a while and Ivan decided to walk down the cells, already used to that kind of scene. He watched every one of the cells, his eyes like stones as they looked at broken bodies, some hardly thirteen, crying or sleeping silently, as if trying to escape from a never ending nightmare. He finally reached the new Hybrids' cells. He stopped right in front of them, studying them as if he was facing a complex diagram he needed to remember by heart.

The two Canine Hybrids looked quite bad. They had painful looking bruises everywhere and he wouldn't be surprised if they had some broken bones. The Fox Hybrid was knocked out, laid ou in his tiny cot. His leg was twisted in an awkward angle. He made a note to himself to call over a doctor to look after them so that the interrogation could begin. The Wolf Hybrid (the leader) watched him coolly, simply studying him. He was kind of in the same state as the twins, but he didn't seem to fear him. This impressed the giant, however slightly.

"Get a doctor over here. I want those four ready for interrogation in a week at the latest," he ordered Sadik as he walked out. He had to visit the higher-ups to report them about his findings. He couldn't quite believe that they had been able to get the infamous Adolf, after all this years, the one who had been able to escape prision every time.

He wandered how the Hybrid was planning on getting away this time.

On his way up, he came face to face with Hans Beilschmidt, who was also going up. "What a surprise Captain Beilschmidt," he murmured softly, causing some passerby to shiver in fear.

"Captain Braginski," the other nodded, letting their eyes meet and not even flinching at the cold gaze he received in return.

"You may want to come with me. I have some interesting news to share." The older man simply rose an elegant eyebrow, following him in the way up.

"Of course, I was just making my way there."

* * *

The whole pack was waiting in the middle of a forest, right beside a riverbend. They had reached the place earlier than planned, so everyone was spread out, doing whatever they wanted, all while keeping a close eye on their surroundings. They all knew that the person would soon arrive and this made them all the more anxious.

Sitting under a patch of sunlight, Kiku Honda, a relatively small Cat Hybrid was typing something in a small laptop they had been able to... take without permission from a tiny SA quarter lost in the middle of a forest far away from where they were. His white tail and ears twitched in frustration whenever he met some problem and he didn't seem to notice the activity around him. Although that was simply false, since every time he heard an unusual noise he would straighten, letting his dark brown (almost black) eyes study the environment for any danger.

Not far from where he sat were two of his companions. One of them (a Monkey Hybrid with a ridiculous curl turned towards the right) was molesting the other (another Cat Hybrid, with black ears and tail). The Monkey was smiling as he tried to feel up the chest of the sole female in their pack. The young woman would then growl, punching the man in the face, hard enough to push him away, but not hard enough to knock him out (she had received the order not to).

The last member of the pack, their leader, sat on top of a rock, meditating. His hair was long,covering his whole backside, and held up in a low ponytail. He was naturally pale and quite slim. Many thought at first glance he was a woman, until the moment he talked, which made them realize they were actually talking to a man. He was a Panda Hybrid, with cute, tiny, round ears and a matching black tail. At the moment he was trying to find inner peace, concentrating on the mission ahead of him.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" echoed throughout the forest, making half of the fauna flee in search of someplace safe to stay. There went his inner peace.

"Enough!" he shouted. The other two, who were in the middle of a fist fight, stopped, knowing that they were in trouble.

The woman was the first to recover pointing an accusing finger at the male. "It's his fault! He won't stop, no matter how much I hit him!" she crossed her tanned arms, glaring up at her leader. Her tail moved as well, feeling their owner's anger. This seemed to catch the attention of the Monkey Hybrid, who smiled and tried to catch it.

"Da ze!" he shouted, when he finally had the tail in his hands. His victory didn't last long.

With a battle cry, the Cat Hybrid turned around, launching herself at the other one. "Im Yong Soo and Jenny!" the Panda Hybrid jumped from his sitting place, placing himself between the two before things went too far.

Jenny, grudgingly, obeyed, stepping away from Im Yong Soo, but still kept a wary amber brown eye on the young man, waiting for any suspicious move from his part. The other didn't seem to notice, turning his attention to the new comer. "Hyong!" he shouted, jumping on the older man before he could react.

"Hyong's breasts belong to me!" he shouted again, placing his hands over Yao's upper chest. Furious, the Panda Hybrid turned around, punching the younger man with enough strength to send him flying to the other side of the river.

"I thought we weren't supposed to knock him out," muttered the young woman, looking sullenly down. It wasn't fair _she_ was the one being harassed and she couldn't do anything while the other one could do whatever he wanted.

"Silence," Yao didn't seem to hear her, more worried on the sound of footsteps approaching them. Smelling the air, they recognized the person. Sensing nobody else around, they all relaxed slightly, watching the person come out from the trees and bushes. The person was tall, taller than all of them, with a cloak that hid their identity from anyone who may see them. Their movements were slow and elegant, while both hands rose in a sign of peace.

"What have you got for us?" asked Yao, while Jenny placed herself in his right side and Kiku watched everything from over his computer. They all knew they had to be extremely careful with that person, no matter how long that person had been helping them.

"They are in prision. I was able to get a copy of the blueprints of the headquarters but the blueprints of the prision are out of my reach. They are in a closed off room. Their's only one key and it belongs to the General. The only thing I can give you is time. Their interrogation is supposed to begin in a week. I will be able to get you another week, but that's all I can promise."

Taking the blueprints, Yao handed them to Jenny, who gave them to Kiku to study. "How are you planning on doing that?" he asked, watching the other person warily. This person had helped them since the beginning, but he couldn't help but wander every time the reasons behind the help. What were their motives? What did they gain?

"Just leave everything to me. Make sure to have your team ready. I can cause a diversion so that you may infiltrate the place and get the right blueprints. From there, I'm sad to say that you are on your own."

"Is that all?"

The other seemed to hesitate for a second before answering. "Arthur didn't get caught."

This stunned them all to silence and nobody could say anything for a while. The person left quickly, knowing that their job there was done.

"Contact the Council. Something came up."

**

* * *

**

**Translation:**

**Hyong**- Big Brother in Korean

I know some of you imagined that Yao would have ended up as a Tiger Hybrid, but I just HAD to make him a Panda Hybrid. I mean, with his whole obsession with them and everything... It just seemed to fit. I remember somebody mentioning about a Bear Hybrid and it being either Berwald or Ivan but as you can see, it ended up being Yao, since a Panda is technically a bear right? So I kept my promise about there being a Bear Hybrid here! And isn't Monkey Im Yong Soo simply amusing? I was going to make him a Tiger, but when I showed my little sister South Korea, she asked me if I was thinking about making him a Monkey and bam! it was perfect. And Jenny is just perfect for what I have planned...

This is getting pretty long, so...

What is going to happen to out heroes now? Who was the person behind the cloak? How is Yao's pack going to help them?

Will Im Yong Soo be able to survive with Jenny and Yao watching his every move?

**Stay tunned!**


	12. Chapter 12

Hello people who are wandering what happened to me! I'm sorry for making you wait so much but I realized I was going through a major writer block and there was no way I was going to stop right now. So I decided to start working on some ideas that have been itching to come out, and after I started going there was no way to stop me! SO the next chapter is already done, I only have to wait for Hippie Vampire to finish beta-ing and it's done (thanks for your help for this chapter girl!) and big thanks to everybody who reviewed/alerted this story! Love you people!

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The Infiltration

It was already ten o'clock when Matthew Williams got up and started preparing some pancakes. He knew that soon his brother would wake up, stomach growling and tripping over anything that was in his path whining about not getting enough sleep. Matthew would then remind him that he had three days off, in which he could do whatever he wanted. At this Alfred would then groan, this time whining about not having anything to do.

They could pretend last night had never happened.

With a snort, the soft-spoken blond shook his head. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the information that he had received last night. The little Hybrid... Arthur, his memory supplied, had fallen asleep in the couch some time last night while he got over the initial shock. Kumajiro had fallen asleep right beside his new playmate and the younger blond wrapped himself around him. Even Matthew had to admit, with everything going on, that those two did make an adorable picture.

Matthew had then demanded an explantion, and God, what an unexpected explanation it was. Had anybody else told him that his brother would one day be saved by a pack of Hybrids and that said brother would actually care for them, he would have laughed at their face.

After he had called an ambulance for them of course.

Sighing, the young man decided to concentrate on the breakfast, missing the sound of small feet making their way towards him.

"Francis? I'm hungry."

Turning around in surprise, the blond man blinked a few times. The little Bunny Hybrid _(Arthur, Arthur) _stood right there, in the middle of his kitchen, completely unaware of the fact that he wasn't talking to Francis.

Who was Francis anyway? Searching in his memory for anything his brother had told him last night, he remembered that Francis was in fact a Fox Hybrid; a supposedly sly, perverted Fox Hybrid.

Blinking a few times more, Matthew finally studied the Rabbit Hybrid. He was quite small for some one in their teens (Alfred had said he was sixteen now hadn't he?) and he looked quite well... childish. Especially with that cloak (he had to remember to buy the poor kid something to wear because that looked old and dirty enough to be one of his grandmother's rags) and the fact that he looked more asleep than awake. He was rubbing his hand against his eye and a yawn made its way out of his mouth, while both of his ears were slightly droppy, as if they weren't totally awake.

"I'm not Francis," was the only thing he was able to say at the moment. "Hungry?" Seeing the younger teen flinch and blink in surprise as the memories resurfaced, he felt a sharp need to wince. Smooth, Matthew, real smooth. "I made some pancakes?" Why was he feeling as if he was burying his own grave?

The other one blushed slightly. "Sorry. I just didn't mean to... I had kind of forgotten..." He never managed to finish his sentence, but he did manage to resemble a tomato. Chuckling, the older one just waved him off, wandering if the Hybrid in front of him was actually sixteen.

"Pancakes?" He offered again, smiling at the hasty nod he got in answer. He was really too cute.

Settling himself in the table, the young Hybrid watched his back warily, looking for any brusque movement. He only relaxed when a plate of pancakes had been placed in front of him and Matthew had sat as well. He ate his pancakes carefully, searching for any weird aftertaste. He found none, but his eyes did widen in surprise when he tasted chocolate.

"Do you want any honey with them?"

Arthur simply shook his head, looking at the blond like any animal would have done at an intruder. He didn't look very dangerous, but he had to be careful. If he wasn't, maybe they wouldn't be able to get Adolf and the others out and that was the last thing he wanted. He had heard stories about the prisions they were placed in. Nobody had ever come out of them alive.

They both fell into an uncomfortable silence. Neither knew what to say to the other and they both simply looked away from each other. Matthew concentrated in finishing Alfred's breakfast and Arthur kept his eyes on his food. When Alfred walked in, huge grin in his face and completely refreshed, they visibly relaxed. Behind him was Kumajiro, who had walked came in, in search of the Bunny Hybrid and his master.

Strutting over to his playmate, the polar bear pleaded with his eyes to be picked up, which Arthur did with great pleasure. He simply couldn't resist those shiny black eyes.

None of them knew what to say to each other so they ate in silence. At least at first but quickly Alfred started talking none stop, telling everyone about his mission. He really hated silence.

"... you should have seen old Beilschmidt's face when we showed him our teams. I thought he was going to explode!" He laughed heartily at the end, more to cover the silence than about his captain's face. Although it had seriously been funny.

Sighing, Matt got up, picking up the dirty dishes in his way. He had to go to the university today, since they were Tuesday and they were having a field trip to the forest to check out the fauna. He had seriously hesitated between being a doctor and a veterinarian, but in the end he had decided to become the later. He worked far better with animals than with humans.

"You better keep an eye on Arthur while I'm away," he told his brother just before he left. The mentioned Hybrid was playing with Kumajiro in his room and they were both alone in the hallway. "And while you're on leave, you better buy him some clothes. That cloak looks old enough to belong to our grandmother."

Pouting Alfred crossed his arms. "Don't worry; I will take perfect care of him.I can take care of myself while you are away, so how hard can it be?"

"I was afraid you would say something like that."

* * *

Everything had been set in place. All they had to wait was for their contact to activate their tiny bomb and they were in. They had studied the plans their contact had handed over and they had made a quick plan. Their plan was rudimentary at best, but they really didn't have much time. They weren't quite sure how their contact was going to work things out but they had contacted Toris. He had assured them that everything was in place and they were only waiting for the right moment. He was just waiting for his signal so that he could shut down the power.

It was a tiny one, hardly enough to kill anyone but big enough to cause a commotion. While everybody was in frenzy, trying to keep things under control they would shut down the main power, turning of the cameras and movement detectors so that they could infiltrate the place.

Yao and Jenny were waiting in a rooftop that towered over the headquarters. When the bomb activated they would jump down, landing in the HQ's roof. From there they would simply open the window of the room beside the one that held the prision's blueprints.

That room was completely closed of. There were no windows and the only way to enter it was through a door. To open it you needed not only the key card that only the General had, but you also had to go through a handprint and eye scanner and give a sample of your blood. What's more, the whole system was completely independent from the main power house, so it would have kept running even if they shut down the power. The only one who could open it was the General and he hardly ever brought people with him when he went there. It was extremely hard, near impossible to reach that place.

Thank God then they had a computer genius in their team.

Kiku had managed to enter the main system the day the had been handed the blueprints. It had taken him the whole night and twenty cups of strong coffee (which he only drank to keep himself awake, he very much preferred tea) but he had done it. From there he had forced the security system to see Yao as another General. Once they had been able to get in Kiku would destroy the whole information the system had so that they wouldn't be able to track them down.

So while Yao and Jenny got inside the room, Kiku and Yong Soo would be waiting near the prision, so that people would believe that everything was an attempt to get the newly captured Hybrids out. This would then make people concentrate on the other building and leave the coast clear for the others. They just had to make sure they were seen, but that they didn't get caught.

And everything had gone as planned in the beginning. Yao and Jenny had gone through the window without problems and when they opened the door nobody had been on sight. They had walked slowly to the other room, making sure they went unnoticed. When they had reached the door Yao had brought out the key card, which one of their few contacts had been able to make with the help of Kiku. They had gone through the whole thing without problems, but neither of them noticed the tiny light that had turned on when they walked through the door.

A mistake that could very well cost them dearly.

The whole room was silent and dark. It smelled sickly clean, reminding them both of hospitals. Ordering the light to turn on, they both closed the door, in case somebody happened to walk by. Acting quickly, they both started looking for the blueprints.

Everything was perfectly organized, following the order of the alphabet. They quickly realized, while they checked out the Ps that not only did the room held the blueprints of different facilities and places that were under the control of the HQ, but it also had the many plans and projects that the SA had used or was planning on using.

"This is worth gold," Jenny whispered, gazing at the information mine they had found. She had an old-fashioned earpiece in her left ear and wore a skin-tight, black outfit. She had a belt low on her hips, where she had her gun and some explosives, in case they had to do a quick escape. Yao, who wore a similar thing nodded softly.

"We don't have time for this. Help me find the blueprints." the Chinese descendant muttered, remembering their mission.

The young Cat Hybrid wanted to complain, but she kept silent. She greatly respected her alpha leader and knew that they had to get finished with this mission quickly. They had quickly found the papers and while Yao took careful pictures of each paper, making sure with his digital camera that everything could be seen clearly, Jenny decided to snoop around. She wasn't exactly breaking orders, since they had found the blueprints. Normally she would have kept an eye on the door, but she felt pretty much confident, so she didn't think anyone had seen them sneak in.

A grave mistake when on a mission.

The fiery redhead looked around, looking for something that may clue them about what those SA agents were planning. Nothing really caught her eye, until she reached the X section.

She had never quite understood why people still kept doing papers when you could save everything in a small disk. But considering the talents Kiku had with a computer, she supposed that it could be even worse if you kept everything in something so small that could be so easily lost or stolen. For that reason she was shocked to find a small disk. It would have easily fit in her palm, she thought taking the disk slowly, feeling its importance in her hand. Curious, she studied the case in which it had been placed.

It was not descriptive black, simple and sraight to the point. The only thing that could clue her on what it was (and even then, it didn't help much) was the small red X that was on one of the sides. She believed that there was something else written in black, but it was hard to tell, even with her enhaced vision. She brought out another disk case, this one being hers. It was very much the same, except without the red X and was a little bit bigger.

Comparing them both, she hesitated for a second, looking over to her alpha. Yao was practically finished, and she didn't have much time to decide. Should she leave it? Take it?

Before she could reach a decision the door was forced open, freezing both Yao and her for a second. They had been found. She didn't have much of a choice. Leaving behind the fully black case, she took the one marked X with her, hidding it within her uniform. She would ask Kiku to check it out later.

* * *

Ivan Braginski had been at the camera room when everything started. He hadn't felt the explosion, but he had indeed been present when the power went off. Luckily the sun was still up, so they had no need for some extra light. He had ordered his men to head over to the prision, incase the Hybrids attempted an escape. Meanwhile another part of the agents had gone to the main power room, to figure out what had happened. The rest had been sent to investigate the explosion. He himself had gone to that direction, intent on finding out how a bomb had made its way within the building. But he had met Captain Beilschmidt on his way there and Beilschmidt had assured him that he will take care of the situation. Just when he was making his was to the prision, his watch beeped red.

Shocked, the giant actually stopped for a few seconds as the information made its way to his brain. Somebody had been able to get inside the Room. Somebody had gone through the whole system and was snooping around at that very moment.

It's an understatement to say that he saw red.

When he arrived in front of the door he was able to open it without problems. He was one of the very few General Winter held any sort of trust for. He was the only one with direct permission on opening the room, since he had a key as well. The rumors saying that he would be taking the General's place when said man retired weren't that far off.

Opening the door, the Russian quickly assessed the situation. The lights were turned on but he couldn't see the intruders anywhere. They had to be somewhere in the room.

Closing the door behind him, Ivan brought out his gun stunner. He didn't have anything else with him and the stunner would prove to be useful. If he was able to get one shot in, he would have a new prisioner and very probably a mine of information. He couldn't let anybody escape.

He walked silently, even if he knew they had heard him. But he didn't care. They just had to make one little mistake and they were his.

Yao and Jenny only looked at each other for one second before they jumped into action. Moving as stealthily as possible they leaned against the shelves, walking towards the door. They strained their ears to listen, but they heard no noise. Damn, this one was a good one.

They didn't have much time to react.

They had heard the gunshot before they saw their assailiant. Crouching down, they let the bullet fly over their heads and reach the documents. Whoever was doing that was going to get in some serious trouble they both noted as thousands of important papers went flying everywhere. Bringing out their own guns they watched out for any sort of movement. Neither dared get up in case the enemy was in some sort of vantage point and could see them move.

Crawling out of the shelves they were in, Yao made a small movement with his hand, ordering her to stop. Clenching her teeth, the fiery Cat Hybrid did as she was told, even if everything within her was telling her to attack before the other one had the opportunity.

Getting up, Yao looked around himself slowly. The SA agent wasn't invisible and sooner or later he would have to move... There!

He had seen a piece of fabric moving around the shelf just before them. The first shot had been a warning shot then, waiting for them to come out of their hiding over at Jenny, he made another movement with his hand. Come to me.

When she had reached him, he murmured as softly as possible. "Here, take this and bring it to Kiku. Wait for me at the meeting point." He ordered as he handed her the camera. Blinking, the Cat Hybrid looked ready to answer back but another gunshot interrupted her. He had caught sight of them.

"Go!" he ordered again as he turned around to face the enemy, bringing up his gun in the process. Jenny didn't move, letting the shadows hide her. Yao didn't turn around, more occupied in watching the newcomer.

He had to be an idiot not to recognize him. Tall and foreboding, few were the Hybrids who had never heard of this specific SA agent. There were rumors that made each of them shiver in fear. They had all heard what he did to Hybrids when they were unlucky enough to meet him. Ever since he had come into the picture, never had a Hybrid actually fred themselves from him alive. Along with his sister, Natalya, they formed most of the nightmares that assulted them in their nights.

Yao rushed forwards. He needed to distract that giant to give enough time to Jenny so that she could escape with the pictures. He attempted a high round house kick, forcing the man backwards. All he needed was one hit and the man was out.

Ivan studied his opponent closely. He had seen the other Hybrid, but hadn't had the time to do anything about it. This Hybrid was slower than the normal Hybrid, but that was probably because of his DNA. Bears weren't the fastest of creatures. The little man (because he was at least one head smaller than him) kept his attacks coming, giving him no time to do anything but defend himself. _Probably trying to get the other one out of here_, he thought, side-stepping another punch.

They kept going, Yao with his series of kicks and punches that would have made any martial arts expert jealous, and Ivan blocking and side stepping him, waiting for the right moment to strike. Jenny couldn't do much other than watch, ready to help out her alpha when needed. This man was huge and even with Yao's strenght she wasn't sure if he would make it out alive. This one was one scary beast.

She had been about to interrupt when the SA agent sent a fist to Yao's face, missing him for a millimeter had the man not crouched down. He attempted a spinning sweep kick right there, making the man loose his balance. The moment she had moved forwards the man had seen her and fired. It was only her extreme flexibility and quick reflexes that had saved her at that moment. That man was fast for someone his size.

"Leave!" Yao ordered again when he noticed her. His eyes were daring her to disobey and that almost got him another fist in the face. Jenny knew that she was only a nuisance at the moment. Clenching her hand around the camera she turned around, rushing towards their meeting point.

Yao realized that he couldn't quite defeat this guy. He was taller and even if he was slightly slower then himself in movements he reacted fast. Time to improvise.

Later on, when he reflected over his actions, Yao wasn't quite sure how he came up with the idea. He would later explain it was a spur of the moment idea that he wasn't quite sure if he regretted. He had gotten away hadn't he? He could always blame it on the soap operas and the disgustingly romantic books Jenny watched/read to have a good laugh.

He got hold of Ivan's uniform and before the man could react crashed down his lips against his own. He could feel the SA agent stiffen in surprise and before the man could do anything about the situation he knocked him out with a well aimed punch.

He had always been stronger than he looked.

Running out of the place, he tried to forget about the kiss, all while he wandered what he was going to tell to the rest of his pack. Leaving behind a knocked out SA agent that would later wonder if the last hour or so had actually happened.

* * *

Meanwhile Im Yong Soo and Kiku had started their part of the plan without a hitch. Yong Soo had volunteered on acting as the bait, while Kiku kept a close eye in the bushes not far away. The Monkey Hybrid was leading the agents through a wild chase, were it wasn't even sure they could have caught him. The SA headquarters had a small park behind the building, were soldiers off-duty usually hung out. Right now, none of them seemed to be having any time to relax, with a Hybrid jumping around them and throwing smoke bombs at them. He would even steal the gun of the soldiers when they attempted on using it, throwing it against the building with enough force to shatter it. It was kind of fun, Kiku had to admit internally.

He himself wasn't part of the chase, working on his computer. He was using the computer he had gotten not a long time ago, the one that had belonged to an SA base. The SA computers were all connected to the main server and for Kiku it was so much easier to work while being near the building. In the wild the signals from the HQ were much harder to catch, especially without any sort of human civilization near. Being this close to the main sever made it easier to get pass through the security, it only made it easier that he had a SA computer. Right now he was going through the files of every single one of the agents (from active ones to the scientists and the like) and sending it to another computer. He never sent anything to the same computer twice. That way if they ever guessed his presence (even after he had erased everything) they would have a harder time locating him. By the time they found him he probably would have already all the information printed and in his hand. He had to remind himself to call Anh when this mission was over.

When he had sent another file to a computer (this one being one from a library in the zone near the forest) he felt something moving behind him. Smelling the air, he instantly recognized the scent as belonging to a human. And the only humans around were...

"Don't move." He felt the cold point of a gun against his temple and resisted his instinct to attack. He really didn't want to catch the attention of the other SA soldiers out there. He waited patiently for the one behind him to act, wandering just what he was planning on doing to him. He felt him move, but the gun never left his face. He waited some more.

The hand that placed itself on his ear surprised him. What surprised him even more was when the person started rubbing his ear in soft rythmical motions. Kami that felt good...

He couldn't stop himself from purring, which caused the other one to chuckle softly. "Cute." He murmured and Kiku felt his breath against his neck, causing him to shiver. Just what did he think he was doing?

Before he could question himself further a cry caught his attention. He recognized it as belonging to Yong Soo and he sneaked a peek, forgetting all about the man and the gun still pointed at him. He felt his heart beat faster as he took in the scene in front of him.

A bullet had been able to reach the Monkey Hybrid. He was leaning against a tree, his hand over his wound in attempt to stop the bleeding. The SA agents didn't dare move as they waited for Natalya Braginki's order. Kiku had instantly recongized her. That cold, almost painful beauty could only belong to one person... They were as good as dead.

"You better be ready to get your friend and run as fast as you can." The man murmured behind him, before he got up and walked out of his hiding place. Kiku wasn't sure if he should believe him or not, but this was their best shot on getting away. After all, the guy hadn't killed him or revealed his position had he? Closing his computer and placing it in his bag, he moved as carefully as he could closer to Im Yong Soo waiting for his moment to act.

He didn't have to wait long.

The man was tall and imposing with his calm, almost uncaring aura. His gun was held almost lazily in his hand and his olive green eyes made you think that he was more asleep than awake. Which could have been the case.

With a speed that nobody had thought he possesed he pointed his gun and fired. His shot grazed the young woman, causing her attention (and the attention of everybody else) to turn to him. Nobody saw the Cat Hybrid come and help his pack member up, taking him somwhere safer, both of them moving as fast as the situation would let them.

"Sorry, I missed." No one was sure if he meant that he had missed the Hybrid or if he had actually missed the youngest Braginski. While they watched said Braginski, the deadly aura made them underestand that they were all in deep trouble. Nobody would have expected the chaos that would follow for the next few weeks.

For this was only the beginning.

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Is Greece cool or what? In any case, poll is going down in a week, just to give time for those who haven't voted to do so... And I have a new story for Hetalia! But the information will come later on, after the next chapter, since I'm still working on the details!

Love you all (and review if any one has questions)


	13. Chapter 13

So, hi guys! You are all probably wandering what happened to me, but you all know how incomperative life is. University is killing me slowly and painfully and I had a project to finish but I read UK's review and I went like. This one actually read my whole story and here I am, working on some project in the hope of gaining extra points for my finals. So I went like, f*ck it, I'm updating this. Luckly for you guys I managed to find my beta's (wander if she still will be) corrections on the chapter so I worked on that. The next update won't be until a long time. Finals are in three weeks... THREE WEEKS?

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Revelations

When Peter woke up that morning, he thought that it would be like any other morning he had been living up until now. He laid in bed for a while, too lazy to get up, but started preparing himself when his 'mom' called him. He changed quickly, grabbing his school bag on the way out, trying to remember if he was forgetting anything. He didn't think so.

He had reached the kitchen, were his 'mom' was making breakfast and his father was deeply absorbed by the morning paper. Berwald was an old-fashioned man, preferring the feeling of paper in his hand more than the sight of a hologram. He explained that those things were bothersome, and he sometimes had problem reading the news, since the holograms were slightly transparent. It had really started as a normal morning.

Then his father folded the newspaper and turned towards him, watching him with an expressionless face. At least, that was what it seemed to an untrained eye, but Peter quickly noticed his dad's unease. He wasn't about to tell him some good news.

His 'mom' placed his breakfast in front of him and then sat down beside his husband. Yep, that definitely was a sign for bad news.

"What's wrong?" the young boy asked, playing with his food. He wasn't that hungry anymore.

Looking at each other, Tino nodded at Berwald, who then handed over the paper to his adopted son, showing him the front page. This was going to come as a shock for him.

Blinking, Peter looked down at the paper, reading the headline. **The 'Untouchable Wolf' is back. **Who was this 'Untouchable Wolf'? Looking at the picture of the headlines, the answer was simple enough.

Adolf.

Blinking in surprise, he looked up at his parents, waiting for some sort of confirmation that what he had just read wasn't some result from his overactive imagination. Both of them nodded gravely, not knowing what to say.

What do you say to your child when the person who could take him to his brother was in prison?

They had next to no idea.

Peter, from his part, didn't know how to react. Should he shout? Scream? Find some way to get into contact with his brother? Looking at the clock, he noticed the time for the first time. Some part of his brain noted that he had to get going if he didn't want to miss the bus, and following his instinct he got up and grabbed his things, moving in a way that was borderline mechanical. "Excuse me." He walked out, taking the newspaper after a second of hesitation.

Closing the door behind him, he opened the newspaper and looked for the pages that talked about the headline in detail. He started reading about the attempt of a group of Hybrids in breaking into the prison (apparently there were two of them) when he kind of walked into someone. Stumbling in surprise, he looked up from his paper, meeting the eyes of a young Asian woman.

"Excuse me," he said and nodded towards her direction before continuing on his way. He had more important things to think about.

The Asian woman watched him go, blinking in surprise. She had never thought that she would see anyone else wearing _that_ pair of eyebrows... Blinking some more, she returned to her walk. She had more important things to do.

Walking into the library, the young woman looked around. Finding the head desk, she made her way there, a charming smile in her lips. "Hello, I was wondering if I could possibly use one of your computers to print something?"

The librarian returned the smile, even if it seemed a little bit strained. "Indeed miss. All you have to do is pass your ID card through the scanner over there. Once you are done you simply have to come back and pay. So if you could excuse me." The librarian quickly left, probably to admonish the young children that were running around in the kid's section.

The Asian woman didn't waste any time. Passing her ID card without problems she quickly found a free computer. A quick search proved itself useful. Finding the documents she was looking for she printed them. Papers were hardly used anymore, except for important documentation and such things. People these days were getting a little too talented with computers. Remembering the next steps she deleted them completely from the hard drive, making sure that nothing was left.

Walking back to the head desk, she picked up her papers, looking over them quickly. Everything had turned out alright. "Anything else you may need miss?"

Smiling at the librarian she shook her head. She paid for her papers and quickly left, not wanting to stay in there more than was needed. "Have a good day Miss Chen."

Leaving the building, Miss Chen looked around herself. Nothing caught her eye and she discretely made her way to the forest. She wore a mandarin styled shirt and a pair of pants, along with a one shoulder backpack and a cap. Everything she wore was of different shades of green, but always staying in dark shades. When she reached the forest, she easily disappeared in it, becoming almost invisible to the untrained eye.

From there she started to run. She slithered through the flora like a snake, with speed and precision. Her ponytail whipped behind her like a snake's tail when they are about to strike their prey. The cold wind hit against her face and caused her to shiver constantly (she hated the cold so much) but she didn't stop running until she had reached their own headquarters.

Their headquarters were deep within the forest, an old SA HQ that had been long forgotten and used for themselves. It had been abandoned after a successful Hybrid attack and Nature had over-powered it. Even if the inside hadn't suffered much damage from Nature's hands, the outside was another story. One could hardly tell that a building existed there, due to the fact that moss, leaves and all sorts of wildlife had covered the surface.

It had been the perfect hiding place and the only way in was through the door, that was constantly guarded by some Hybrid. Knocking on the door three times, two quick and one slow, the door opened for her.

"Anh, you are back. Come in." The man up on guard was no other than Carlos, a Boa Constrictor Hybrid from Cuba before he managed to run away and land himself in America. He had a cigarette hanging from his lips constantly and a serious disregard for rules. He was tanned, which made it difficult for others to see his scales. His eyed were a dark brown, but were slitted like those of a snake. He was imposing with his presence and fearsome with his size.

Anh smiled at her fellow reptile. "Know where Yao's pack is? I have something for them."

"I think they are in the Computer room. Jenny said that she had something to show to Kiku."

"Thanks," the young woman nodded, walking towards her destination. She crossed from time to time another fellow Hybrid, but they had little time to chat. The situation was just getting more and more dangerous and they had no time to waste.

Reaching the Computer room, she tapped down the code and let the machine take a drop of her blood, waiting for it to recognize her from the main database. While they weren't as proficient in technology as humans, they had their fair share of computers and their own technology. Theirs was more rudimentary and simple, having nothing in the wilderness that could actually last much.

When she entered the room, the first thing she noticed was flaming red hair. Jenny was leaning against a wall, right beside Kiku, who was hunched over his computer. Walking in, the female Cat Hybrid was the first to notice her. Rather than disturbing Kiku in the middle of his work, they nodded at each other before Anh made her way to the bathroom. The makeup was starting to itch.

When she came out of the bathroom, her flawless skin had disappeared, revealing a scaly surface. Her eyes resembled those of a snake, and when she smiled, she showed a pair of pointy teeth that hadn't been present beforehand. This was the reason why she was always chosen to go outside and mingle with humans. Her outer appearance could easily be hidden, making her look like any other person when she walked around the city. That and she was a master of camouflage, along with a certain talent for sneaking around without being noticed.

Smiling at the bored looking Cat Hybrid, she brought out the papers Kiku had asked her to get, placing them beside him. If Kiku noticed her presence (which he probably did) he gave no sign of having done so. His attention was completely consumed by his present work, which from what Anh could tell (she had a certain talent with technology as well, even if she was nowhere near Kiku's level) consisted of hacking within a program. Raising an eyebrow, Jenny made a sign with her hand, telling her that she would explain later.

When Kiku finally looked up from his work, Jenny and Anh had decided to start a card game in the floor, having nothing else to do. Before Kiku even opened his mouth, Anh had already talked. "They are right beside you," She said without looking up, an intense look in her eyes. "Got any sevens?"

"Go Fish."

Sighing, the only male in the room picked up the papers, sending a quick look at his computer's screen. He had installed a program that would normally break through the disk's firewall. The disk Jenny had nicked during their last mission (when she should have been staying on guard in front of the door) was quite important, if the protections installed in it were anything to go by. Now all he had to do was wait.

Looking over the papers, he started organizing them. The active agents were placed in one stack, the scientist on another one, the ones who were incapacitated at the moment in another and lastly one for every person that worked in the SA's prison. Looking over the different guards who formed part of this last group, Kiku faltered at a moment. Indifferent olive green eyes stared back at him, a bored, almost tired look in the man's face. Heracles Karpusi. Greek. No older than twenty-two. Cell guardian. Efficient and talented.

He was brought out of his musings by his computer. He had been able to hack trough the disk's system. Placing the sheet beside him _(almost regretfully) _he looked over the disk's contents. Snooping around, he finally found something that seemed worth looking at.

His gasp was enough to catch both Anh's and Jenny's attention. Forgetting all about their game both women got up, hurrying over to the screen.

"What is it?" the red head asked, her eyes skimming through the information in front of her. It looked like blueprints of some kind with lots of text below it.

"This is their next plan..." Kiku managed to whisper, his eyes looking at the screen without taking anything in.

"And so what?"

"Extermination and Domination." Anh was the one to answer, having understood to a certain extent the blueprints. "That's their next step. They are creating control chips to turn us into slaves, into their perfect, little, brainless soldiers. See this?" she pointed at a specific part of the text. "This is the resume of their failures. They have been using their prisoners for this!"

"No..." Jenny's eyes widened, taking in the extent of the danger. Anh nodded.

"Then comes the 'Extermination' part. Remember what we have seen about World War Two? With the concentration and extermination camps? This is the same thing, only that there is no 'concentration' part. Once they have perfected the chip, all those who were created would be exterminated, under the watchful eyes of the controlled Hybrids, who have been controlled since the moment of their creation. None of us survive."

While the information settled in, they all felt as if their world was coming to an end. Up until now the war that had been going on between them and humans had been simple and 'normal'. It was some sort of civil war, but this new information changed everything. Things were going way out of control.

"When would this be finished?" Jenny asked, pointing at a blueprint showing the Extermination camp.

"It already is." Anh's answer was borderline robotic, simply stating a fact. "They are planning on moving the current prison to that place. From what this thing says they are going to be moved in a month's time at the latest."

"We have to inform the Council."

* * *

When Alfred said that he would have no problems looking after Arthur, he actually believed it. Because hey, how hard can it be to take care of a Bunny Hybrid? An adorable, cute, innocent teen that wore a really short shirt?

It was seriously hard, let it be said.

For who knows how, Alfred wanted to hit his head against the table. Having no experience on babysitting, he thought that it would be a smart thing to watch a movie to pass the time. He had let Arthur chose one when the younger teen had told him that he had been taught how to read, so there shouldn't have been a problem.

Except that some movies were in the top shelf. When Arthur had first tried to get a movie from that shelf, his shirt had ridden up. Technically it wasn't his shirt, since it belonged to Alfred when he was younger, but it was the smallest thing he could find, and he had no shorts that would actually be of use. The shirt was big enough to cover all the inappropriate places, and Arthur didn't seem to mind.

Of course that living in the wild, the options were kind of limited.

But we are getting off topic aren't we? The problem was that the shirt was short, considering that any extra movement would ridden up the shirt, making it indecent for use. Something that Alfred was quick to realize. When he had seen the shirt rise, he had quickly offered his services on bringing the movies down, keeping his eyes away from the view like a real gentleman.

The sad thing was that Arthur didn't see it that way. He took the offer as a personal offense, making him all the more determined to do it without help. Alfred had then made the mistake of offering him a chair to get higher, which only inflamed his anger. The younger teen insisted on his capacity of handling things himself and refused.

So it was much to Alfred's horror -joy- that he watched the Bunny Hybrid work. Arthur would jump from time to time giving the young American a quick view of his round, graspable, delicious, fine and absolutely fucka-

"I'm going to go prepare the snacks!" he shouted as he got up and ran to the kitchen. Arthur watched him go, bushy eyebrows frowning slightly. What was that all about?

Leaning against the counter in the safety of the kitchen, Alfred started counting to ten. Realizing that it wasn't helping his problem, he decided to count until thirty. When he finally felt relatively calm, he kept his eyes closed and didn't move.

If he was checking out a young _male_ teen, it definitely was a sign that he needed to find someone. He had been away for three months, and he supposed it was completely natural for him to react that way. It most likely was only his body talking, reminding him of his needs. Yeah, that was probably it. It was a simple, hormonal reaction. Nothing else.

Because he really liked girls. Nice, slim women with a nice set of breasts and a perky bottom. Although Arthur was quite slim and he had a nice bottom. Sure, he didn't have any breasts, but he had to admit that the bunny ears and tail more than made up for that...

Alfred's eyes widened in horror as his thoughts registered in his mind. When he did so, he came face to face with Arthur's beautiful emeralds, looking at him with concern. Well, shit.

"Are you alright?" his soft voice murmured, as he leaned forwards against his body. Double shit.

Receiving no answer, Arthur rose to the tips of his toes, placing his hand against Alfred's forehead. Weird, he was quite warm, but didn't seem to have a fever or anything. Meanwhile, Alfred gulped. The only thing going through his mind was something like, _shit shit shitshitshit... _What did a guy do in this kind of situation?

"Let's go see that movie should we?"

Arthur didn't get the chance to say anything, before Alfred had already left the kitchen. Blinking, the younger teen followed him. Alfred picked up a movie at random, placing it on the DVD before a word could be said.

Arthur frowned, a pout appearing on his lips. How come he didn't get to choose the movie they would be watching? For him, things like computers, cell phones and television were a luxury. It was hard to walk around unnoticed, due to their condition. In fact, the only ones that were able to do that were the reptiles, since they had no extra appendages... for the most part. But he was determined to have a good time. Alfred had promised to help him get out Adolf and everyone else from prison, but he just had to wait two more days, since at the moment he had no valid reason to return.

Alfred sat down on the sofa, facing the TV while Arthur sat beside him. When the movie began, the nineteen year old gulped. Shit, he had picked out a horror movie... Turning towards his younger companion, he said, "Hey, if things get too scary, don't hesitate to tell me so that we can choose something else okay?"

Arthur nodded, more interested on the movie playing than what Alfred had to say. Thirty minutes into the movie, Alfred was a quivering mass of fear, trying to cover his eyes, but not managing to do so because of morbid fascination. He just had to know what was going on. They had reached the middle of the movie, some character morbidly being eaten right in front of them and Alfred couldn't handle it anymore. He wrapped his arms around Arthur, holding him tight against his chest, like a teddy bear.

Arthur gasped in surprise and blushed as he felt Alfred's warm body against his own. Feeling the elder one trembling, he wrapped his arms around him, holding him and murmuring comforting words against his ear. By the time the movie finished, the young American had his arms wrapped around his waist, hiding his face on his lap. Arthur played with his hair, singing the soft lullaby he faintly remembered his mother sang for him. Adolf used to sing that song for him when he was much younger, when nightmares plagued his nights.

When Alfred had calmed down enough, he blushed. He was embarrassed to having reacted like that to some movie that hadn't even fazed the Bunny Hybrid. Although, when you think about it, since he had been living on the run since he was young, it was kind of normal that few things managed to faze him.

Arthur simply smiled at him, and changed the subject. He asked him about his life as an SA agent, and Alfred answered enthusiastically. From there, conversation seemed to flow, both of them talking about the time they had been apart. Then they started talking about their respective childhoods. Arthur laughed at the stories of Alfred's act of heroism (one which consisted on climbing on a tree to bring down a cat, only to find himself stuck there for five hours while his parents looked for him in the other side of the park) and Arthur recounted his adventures with the rest of his pack (like the one time that Lovino had been kidnapped and the long weeks they had passed looking for him, only to find him safe and sound, having been saved by some human).

Time flew by, but neither noticed as their conversation continued. When Mattie came back home, it was only to find a hungry polar bear demanding to be fed, and the two of them curled in the sofa, Alfred's arms wrapped protectively around the cute Bunny.

A decidedly 'un-Mattie' smirk appeared on his face as he brought out his cellphone and took a few pictures. Maybe they could work for blackmail later on.

* * *

The SA head quarters were a mess. Information had leaked out and the attack on the buildings facilities had been revealed. At least nobody knew that Hybrids had been able to get through the security and infiltrate one of the rooms with the highest security in the world. As far as the public was aware, this had only been a failed attempt to get the infamous Wolf Hybrid out.

But the higher ups knew otherwise. A meeting had been made to find out who had placed the tiny bomb within the building but so far the search had been fruitless. Not everybody knew the truth behind the attack. In fact, many of the scientists and agents knew as much as the public did. For that reason they couldn't make their searches obvious, which made things harder for everyone. But they knew that a traitor was among them.

Ivan had informed General Winter as soon as it had been possible. He had explained everything in detail, leaving only one tiny thing unsaid (he didn't think it would be wise to mention the real reason of why the Panda Hybrid had given him the slip) and had been charged, with his team, to find the traitor and from there find the Hybrids' hiding place. But before hand, he had to make sure that everything was in order inside the Archives room.

So far they had found nothing missing. Sadly enough the Hybrids had remembered to turn off the videos inside the room, so they had nothing to go by. Natalya and Eduard had taken the east side of the room, while he and Toris took care of the west. Toris was the one cataloging the different papers, making sure that everything was okay. They had reached the end of the alphabet, in the X that Ivan had felt his phone vibrate against his chest. Turning around without a care, knowing that Toris would take care of everything, he answered the phone, recognizing the number.

"Hello."

"Mr. Braginski? This is the Helen's Hospital calling you. I believe that there are some problems with the information you have given us. Could it be possible for you to stop by before the end of the day?" The woman in the phone was confident and assertive. Ivan recognized the voice of Elizabeta Héderváry, the young nurse who worked alongside Dr. Edelstein.

"Of course, I'm on my way."

He didn't waste anytime. Without a word to Toris he picked up his sister, who followed him in silence. They were both extremely close to each other. They were, after all, all they had left in this world. Some went even as far as to say that Natalya had an unhealthy obsession with him, refusing to let him leave her sight. And while it annoyed Ivan greatly, he understood his little sister's worry. They had nearly lost one of their own because of one stupid, idiotic mistake. He himself would go through such lengths for Natalya if she hadn't shown him time and time again she could handle herself.

Ivan drove them all the way to the hospital. It was the hospital exclusively meant for SA soldiers and scientists. They were experts on all kinds of sickness and problems. They even had a department meant specifically for those who had seen too much during their lives. In fact, it was Dr. Edelstein who handled that particular department and that had wanted Ivan and Natalya under his care after the accident. General Winter had refused, not wanting to loose his two best hunters, and had almost fired the Austrian doctor had Hans Beilschmidt not interfered. He had acted as a mediator between the two of them and in the end, even if Dr. Edelstein hadn't gotten what he wished for, he had been able to get quite a few people (especially those who worked in prison) to have some sessions with him.

Ivan and Natalya visited the hospital regularly. Their visits were kept secret from the General and nobody of the hospital staff had dared inform him. This was because of a mixture of both of the Braginski siblings' reputation and of Head Nurse Hedervary's deadly accuracy with heavy objects. Nobody dared cross those three, especially at the same time.

When they walked up to the reception room, the poor secretary nearly had a heart attack and dropped the papers she had in her hand. It was her first day working at the Helen's Hospital.

"M-m-r. and Mi-mi-miss B-bragi-ginski-i-i?" she stuttered, not daring to look at either of them. The secretary before her had warned her about them, but everything she had told her had completely flown out of the window, along with her capacity to think and talk properly.

"Yes." Ivan looked at the woman for a few seconds, waiting for her to talk. Natalya, behind him, regarded her with a disgusted and cold look that sent shivers down everyone in the reception room. Many wandered if they should call for a doctor for the poor woman.

"There you are," said a voice from behind the secretary. "If you would be kind enough to follow me." Elizabeta smiled politely, if a little coldly, at both of them. She was an attractive woman, with long chestnut hair that was held back in a firm bun, and sharp, grass-green eyes. She had a willowy figure but there was a certain fierceness in her stand and her eyes that made you understand she wasn't one to mess with. She turned around, letting her pristine white uniform sway around her and her little nurse hat firmly held in place by a few pins, and didn't wait for them to acknowledge her words. She knew they would follow her.

When they reached the door of Dr. Edelstein's office, Elizabeta knocked politely, waiting for the voice inside to acknowledge her presence.

"Come in!"

When she opened the door, it was as if she had under gone a transformation. She had her hands behind her back, with a warm smile in her face. She stood tall, back straight and her two feet facing forwards, side by side. "Dr. Edelstein," her voice dripped with enough honey and sugar that almost made the Braginski siblings gag in disgust, "Mr. and Miss Braginski are here."

Looking up, Roderich Edelstein smiled in thanks at his most efficient nurse. "Thank you Miss Héderváry, I will take care of things from here."

With another warm smile, the brunette turned around, glaring at both of the siblings in warning on her way out. One could easily see she was the protective kind of woman not even Ivan wanted to mess up with. And if one wanted to survive around here, you just simply kept your hands to yourself or at least away from her beloved doctor.

"Mr. Braginski, I'm sorry to interrupt you during your work, but we noticed that this month's payment was late. I'm sure you have other things to worry about, but it's the Hospital's policy. We weren't able to contact you before hand because of various reasons, you see." One could easily see that he was mentioning the capture of the pack and of the latest infiltration attempt. It had indeed been difficult to contact him as of late.

"I understand." Ivan smiled one of his patented smiles, but Roderich regarded him coolly. As a doctor, he had seen many horrors during his considerably short life, and as a psychiatrist for the SA he had heard even more. There were few things that could actually make him loose composure.

"Very well." No more words were exchanged, not until the moment everything was in order. "Would you like to see her? Since you are already here?" Roderich, always the gentleman, opened the door for the siblings, closing it behind him. Receiving only a nod from both, he set out, walking down a hall.

"Nothing had happened as of late. Her condition hasn't changed, but she's still stable. We fear that the possibilities of her waking up are very small, since it has been almost thee years since the accident. The more time passes, the less chances she has of waking up. And here we are."

The doctor stopped in front of a room, but didn't open the door. Instead he let the siblings look from the one way window, in which they could see the patient sleeping in a bed and Elizabeta looking over her condition.

The woman on the bed was around Elizabeta's age, twenty-nine, and her short blond hair surrounded her like a halo. She was quite pale, from being kept inside a room for so long, and she was breathing only thanks to a mask that covered half of her face and the many IV that were attached to her arms. It had been a long time since either sibling had seen her eyes or smile, heard her soft voice laugh or talk. It hurt, seeing your eldest sibling in that condition, and being unable to do anything.

They both quickly left, without a word of goodbye to anyone, and returned home. All it had taken was one mistake while the three of them were doing the yearly inspection of the prison. One mistake that had enabled the escape of one of the Hybrids, who had attacked anything that approached him as he ran, and had dealt a nearly fatal blow on their sister's head, leaving her in a state of coma for the last three years.

Since then, they had never forgiven the race that had made them loose their beloved sister. It had been nearly three years now since Katyusha had been with them, since she had been taken away. And for that, they had to get rid of the Hybrids before they did anymore damage.

* * *

Yeah, I decided to give the Braginskis a sad, heart breaking story. Just because sometimes I wander if Ivan isn't really just misunderstood. So I hope you liked the chapter, because I know I loved making Alfred suffer a little. I hope you guys are having a nice time. Because I know that the next few weeks are going to be torture.


End file.
